Chapter 1256: Divine Arts No. 9, All-Things Gathering
Chapter 1256: Chapter 1256: Divine Arts No. 9, All-Things Gathering
Above the skies of Partridge Head Palace, countless valley demons rode on escape light, rushing towards Sacrificial Altar Mountain.
The cultivation levels of these valley demons varied, yet the speed of their escape light was almost the same. Even with tens of thousands of escape lights traveling together, it somehow did not give off a chaotic feeling, instead presenting a strange sense of order.
If someone well-versed in battle arrays were here, they would surely see that these valley demons were advancing according to ancient battle array positions.
Tens of thousands of people moved in formation, causing the forces of heaven and earth to converge within the array, transforming into the sound of resounding war drums echoing. Seen from afar, the array took the shape of a flying bird, except this bird had five wings.
Each of the Five-Grains Emperors stood within one of the formation wings, holding either array flags or commanding swords, guiding the battle array forward.
"Slow, too slow! How long has it been, and we’ve yet to reach Sacrificial Altar Mountain!"
"At this moment, Senior Ning is probably already engaged with those locust demons, while we are still flying lazily behind, can’t we fly faster?"
"There’s no way, the array’s speed is already at its maximum! The advantage of our five-winged formation is its lethality, not speed. If we switched to the white horse array, we might catch up with Senior Ning’s pace, but it wouldn’t be enough to battle those locust demons..."
"Let’s hope we won’t arrive too late... Despite Senior Ning being a quasi-saint, there are thousands of locust demons, and among them are adult locust demons comparable to Immortal Emperors. Facing multiple Immortal Emperors’ attacks, even a quasi-saint might struggle..."
"Knowing the peril of this battle, Senior still stepped up for us, fighting against the locust demons; despite only sharing a single meal, Senior did this for us..."
"How righteous!"
"Such a shame for us!"
"We may owe others in cause and effect, but we absolutely cannot owe a quasi-saint!"
"This battle must not be without you and me!"
"Fight, fight, fight!"
The Five-Grains Emperors were filled with vigor!
The valley demon army was bursting with fighting spirit!
And then...
The spirited valley demon army chased all the way and finally arrived at Sacrificial Altar Mountain.
Along the way, no locust demon attacks occurred.
No trace of locust demons could be seen on the mountain either.
If Sacrificial Altar Mountain hadn’t been devastated by locust demon attacks, if not for the remaining overwhelming Evil Qi and filth, the Five-Grains Emperors would have doubted if locust demon armies had ever come here.
"May I ask, Senior, has the battle here concluded?" asked a trembling Five-Grains Emperor as he hurriedly approached Ning Fan.
Could he NOT tremble!
For there had been a swarm of locust demons exceeding three thousand billion, even if Ning Fan were a quasi-saint, it’s unimaginable to resolve them single-handedly, isn’t it impossible...
"..." Ning Fan kept his eyes closed, without answering the Five-Grains Emperor’s question or showing any reaction.
He seemed to be busy with something important, unable to spare a moment.
The Five-Grains Emperor was slightly surprised.
Then he noticed that Ning Fan was in an extremely abnormal condition!
At the moment, Ning Fan held a peculiar black sphere, pressing it against his brow.
The sphere was mysterious, and as a result, the Five-Grains Emperor instinctively released his spirit sense to explore further... And then, the Five-Grains Emperor spat fresh blood as their spirit senses were instantly crushed into nothing upon entering the sphere, sustaining backlash.
What kind of black sphere is this! How terrifying! Even as Immortal Emperors, they couldn’t even have the privilege to explore it!
Looking back at Ning Fan.
Ning Fan’s breath was highly abnormal, weakening over time, eventually ceasing, as if he were in a turtle’s rest.
His body temperature seemed to be steadily getting colder.
His body gradually stiffened, eventually turning into an eerie statue.
It seemed to be transforming into stone.
Or perhaps he was to slumber here eternally.
In any case, Ning Fan’s presence was utterly devoid of any sign of life.
Almost as if... he had fallen!
Witnessing this scene, the Five-Grains Emperor turned pale in shock, "Impossible! Impossible! Senior is a dignified quasi-saint, he couldn’t possibly fall here!"
"It’s all our fault! It’s all our fault for arriving too late! Senior must have exhausted himself battling the locust demon army to end up like this!"
"Senior died fighting for our valley demon tribe! Our tribe will remember Senior’s grace forever!"
"Where are the musicians? Quickly perform music!"
"Senior died heroically here and deserves a grand send-off! Having received Senior’s favor, we ought to send him off properly!"
After that.
The musicians of the valley demon tribe truly played before Ning Fan’s statue.
Some blew trumpets, while others blew suona horns, playing mournful tunes, as if they were performing funeral music—well, they were indeed treating it as funeral music.
"Light incense candles!"
"Offer tributes!"
"Scatter funeral money!"
"Erect the soul-calling banner!"
"One, two, three, kneel! One, two, three, bow! One, two, three, cry!"
Under the Five-Grains Emperor’s command, countless valley demons systematically knelt, bowing to Ning Fan to send him off, as cries gradually rose.
This was indeed a mourning ceremony.
At first, the valley demons cried mechanically, without much emotion.
Gradually, more were affected by the emotions, crying more genuinely and sorrowfully, until all cried heartbreakingly, as if not mourning a single encounter with Ning Fan, but their own parents.
The cries were utterly grief-stricken, painful to hear, even reddening the eyes of the Five-Grains Emperor as the emotion swept over.
"We wish Senior a good journey."
"Don’t worry about us."
"We will live earnestly carrying Senior’s beliefs!"
"We’ll strive to be useful to the cultivation world!"
"We will never disappoint Senior!"
The valley demons were deeply immersed in grief when a person suddenly approached the Five-Grains Emperor.
It was the female commander of the Golden Flame Chariot who had been consistently ignored by the Five-Grains Emperor, her full name was Xinyi Nv.
"Why do you lament?" Xinyi asked emotionlessly.
"Oh? It’s Xinyi Immortal. Immortal, you aren’t aware; this senior who supposedly fell here, came forward to fight the locust demons for us valley demons. Having died for us, we must send him off!" replied the Five-Grains Emperor during his crying.
"Fell? This senior hasn’t fallen? He’s just recognizing a treasure’s master. Senior even instructed me, should you valley demons be late, I must remind you not to disturb him." Xinyi calmly explained.
"Recognizing master? Treasure?" The Five-Grains Emperor was taken aback.
Nearly simultaneously, the statue-like seemingly fallen Ning Fan underwent a change.
Crack crack crack!
The statue cracked open, with countless golden beams shooting out of the fissures, so sacred they were blinding to behold!
Ning Fan was bathed in golden divine light, stepping out from the shattered statue as if he were a Konjin.
As the divine light grew even brighter, Ning Fan’s inner divine power surged upward at the same time!
[Please Master, call out my true name! This is the final step for recognizing master!] requested the Divine Pellet Sphere, its voice only heard by Ning Fan.
"Nine Reversals of Ninety-Nine Decay, God of the Mud-Pill," Ning Fan whispered into the divine light, with no one able to hear it, except for the Divine Pellet Sphere.
Almost as soon as Ning Fan called out the true name, the endless divine light surrounding him transformed into tens of thousands of golden divine patterns, imprinting into the Divine Pellet Sphere.
Gradually, the divine light calmed, and the golden divine patterns embedded inside the Divine Pellet Sphere dimmed—returning to a black sphere.
Thus, the recognition of the master concluded!
Ning Fan could clearly feel that after recognition, the Divine Pellet Sphere seemed to be part of his body, a feeling indescribably mysterious.
"Senior truly hasn’t died! Uh..." The Five-Grains Emperor blushed, with senior not dead, their prior mourning rituals would be a farce?
"Hmm? What is this..." As Ning Fan awoke, he saw the grand mourning ceremony before him and stood dumbstruck.
He didn’t inquire further, sensing that knowing the truth would render him speechless, best leave it be.
[Unexpectedly, Master is the venerable Wood Father God! The Divine Pellet Sphere is merely a humble existence, yet serving such an esteemed master! I am moved!] Having recognized Ning Fan as its master, the Divine Pellet Sphere naturally sensed Ning Fan’s divine spirit level, overwhelmed with emotion.
[Serving the great Father God to the death is an honor for Shengwan!]
[Please, master, do not spare Shengwan!]
[Please, master, use Shengwan ruthlessly!]
"Hmm, I will make good use of you; I’m quite curious about your abilities. I shall use this task of refining ghost soldiers to test your power."
With that said, Ning Fan handed Shengwan a mass of bloodlight.
That bloodlight was formed from the extermination of three trillion locust demons by Ning Fan, to be used as a sacrifice for refining ghost soldiers.
Afterward, Ning Fan handed Shengwan the demon soul of the Locust Demon Ancestor, which serves as the main component for refining ghost soldiers.
[Could master leave the Four Divine Artifacts here? With the enhancement of these artifacts, Shengwan’s power can reach its peak.] Shengwan requested.
"The Four Divine Artifacts?" Ning Fan was taken aback.
The Four Divine Artifacts refer to the Four Tools of the Divine Spirit—Refining God Cauldron, Melting Refinement Furnace, Divine Consciousness Grinding Disc, Vital Essence Gourd.
Lending the artifacts for Shengwan to use wouldn’t be a big issue, but Ning Fan hasn’t assembled all four divine tools, having only obtained two by chance.
Knowing this, Shengwan was somewhat surprised.
In her view, Ning Fan, who is a great Father God, hasn’t even gathered the Four Tools, which certainly is a strange event.
[Is it possible that without depending on the power of the divine tools, master defeated other Wood Gods to seize the position of the Wood Father God? This is extraordinarily powerful!]
Shengwan seemed to have misunderstood something, admiring Ning Fan even more fervently.
Although the Four Tools haven’t been assembled, Ning Fan still lent the two he possessed to Shengwan.
"Moreover, in my Refining God Cauldron, I’ve sealed some materials for refining ghost soldiers; feel free to use it..." As he spoke, Ning Fan summoned the Merit Umbrella and sealed the ghost soldier materials inside the cauldron, letting Shengwan use them freely.
"Shengwan follows orders!"
After assigning the task to Shengwan, Ning Fan ventured deeper into Sacrificial Altar Mountain alone, searching for Primordial Sacrificial Meat.
Evidently, for Ning Fan at this moment, eating is more important than witnessing Shengwan’s prowess.
With the support of the Divine Tools, the initially dark ball of Shengwan transformed, emitting strands of golden light.
She started earnestly refining ghost soldiers.
After recognizing her master, Shengwan and Ning Fan shared an immensely mysterious connection, enabling her to summon Netherworld Ghost Flowers, making sacrificial thorns sprout extensively on Sacrificial Altar Mountain.
Ghostly air pervaded, eerie ghost voices sounded, and countless ghost flowers bloomed among the thorns.
One after another, Eternal Ghost Soldiers emerged from the thorny shrubs, guarding around Shengwan, their overwhelming aura intimidating the valley demons from approaching.
No one dared to step forward and disturb.
"What exactly is this black sphere? Its power is phenomenal! It can summon Immortal Emperors and Quasi-Saints out of thin air!"
Eternal Corpse Slave King, Eternal Soul-Devouring Tree, Eternal Ink Qilin, Eternal Dragon King of Ten Thousand Saints...
Any random Eternal Ghost Soldier had the power to crush the Five-Grains Emperor.
Only then did the Five-Grains Emperor realize how shallow their perception of Ning Fan was.
To have such a terrifying black sphere willingly submit, Ning Fan himself must possess an extraordinarily daunting cultivation level; the eradication of three trillion locust demons wouldn’t even pose a challenge.
"Hiss! Look at what the black sphere is holding? It’s a soul of a locust demon rivaling the Quasi-Saint! What does this sphere intend to do? Could it intend to refine the Quasi-Saint soul?"
"Could it be that among the locust demon invasion this time, besides the Immortal Emperor, there might be Quasi-Saints included..."
"This demon soul was handed to the black sphere by Senior Ning, which means that even the Quasi-Saint locust demon was slain by Senior Ning..."
"The rampage of the Fire Fish Immortal seems to have been subdued by Senior Ning as well..."
"Senior Ning is by no means an ordinary Quasi-Saint; could he actually be an Ancient Great Cultivator!"
"It must be so!"
"Truly frightening!"
...
After recognizing her master, Shengwan fully inherited Ning Fan’s vast array of skills, including the method for refining ghost soldiers.
If Ning Fan were to refine ghost soldiers, his state of refinement might fluctuate.
He might be influenced by external factors, causing his refining standards to only reach fifty or sixty percent; he might perform extraordinarily, achieving two hundred percent.
These scenarios are possible.
But Shengwan wouldn’t experience such intense state fluctuations.
She is not a living creature but is transformed from the divine arts of ancient gods, her existence akin to a precisely designed machine.
No matter what influences might exist around, she remains in a hundred percent refining state. Unaffected by anything, nor does she experience extraordinary performance.
The first to be refined into a ghost soldier was the Locust Demon Ancestor.
Originally, the Locust Demon Ancestor had been set with numerous prohibitions by Ning Fan, rendering it unconscious. However, due to the refining of ghost soldiers, it suffered immense pain, thus waking up.
But merely waking up, the prohibitions still bound him, unable to move, his heart now filled with fear!
"Stop! Stop! Shengwan, what do you plan to do? Are you intending to kill me? You cannot do this! My Ancient Locust Clan has served masters for generations, seizing bloody food to feed the masters, why must masters assist outsiders in killing me!"
Shengwan didn’t answer.
Or perhaps she did answer, but the Locust Demon Ancestor wasn’t qualified to hear Shengwan’s voice.
Seeing that Shengwan ignored him, the Locust Demon Ancestor became increasingly enraged, roaring.
"I show you respect by calling you master; do you truly believe you’re nobler than my Ancient Locust Clan? You’re merely a Shengwan, and an unowned one at that! I’m at least a Quasi-Saint, even if you were ordered to kill me, you wouldn’t succeed!"
Shengwan still did not reply.
She only secretly activated the power of the Refining God Cauldron, using its force to gradually refine the demon soul of the Locust Demon Ancestor into the Blood of Ten Thousand Spirits.
"It’s fake! Fake! This is an artifact, a genuine artifact! An artifact requires a divine master to function; could it be...impossible!"
The Locust Demon Ancestor was in despair.
At this moment, Ning Fan’s figure appeared in his mind, slowly overlapping with countless ancient gods in his bloodline memory, causing him to abruptly understand Shengwan’s betrayal.
Moreover, at this moment, the Locust Demon Ancestor recalled the ancestral teachings passed down through generations.
"At the fall of the Ancient Country, we Ancient Locusts betrayed the Ancient Gods, resulting in their demise. One day, the descendants of the gods will come to claim this karma...If you encounter the descendants of the gods, flee swiftly! If you cannot escape, surrender the stolen Shengwan to the gods, and apologize before the gods, perhaps sparing a little of the clan’s bloodline. Remember, in the presence of true gods, we Ancient Locusts are insignificant..."
Despicable, despicable!
If only I had known that person was a god’s descendant, if only I had known...
The consciousness of the Locust Demon Ancestor became increasingly fuzzy.
In the moment of his downfall, he seemed to hear the cold laughter of countless ancient gods resonating through the endless Netherworld.
...
Mysteriously, under Shengwan’s control, the speed of refining the Blood of Ten Thousand Spirits with the Refining God Cauldron was terrifyingly fast.
Shengwan seemed capable of perfectly utilizing the powers of the Refining God Cauldron, even powerful Quasi-Saint demon souls couldn’t withstand its force for long.
Differing from Ning Fan’s manipulation, Shengwan handled the Refining God Cauldron not as a magical treasure but as a cooking tool.
After all, to ancient gods, cauldrons were originally meant for cooking.
The corrupted Evil Qi from the demise of a Quasi-Saint stained the clouds and the vegetation in the mountains red.
All the valley demons were terrified by this sight; Shengwan herself, being the instigator, wasn’t affected in the slightest.
Her existence is akin to Ning Fan’s sword; the consequences of anyone killed by the sword don’t fall upon the blade, but upon the sword’s owner.
Thus, Ning Fan, searching for Primordial Sacrificial Meat in the mountain, inexplicably felt his Evil Qi intensifying, yet he remained indifferent, continuing his quest for sustenance.
Ultimately, the refinement of the first ghost soldier was barely successful.
Ning Fan faintly sensed that one more Eternal Ghost Soldier was added under his command.
Eternal Ancient Locust, First Order Quasi-Saint cultivation.
...
Shengwan breathed a sigh of relief.
Having just recognized her master, she was eager to perform meritoriously. In reality, the success rate of refining an Eternal Ghost Soldier isn’t high—succeeding with the first was indeed a stroke of luck.
"Perhaps it’s master’s profound fortune influencing me; having a fortune-rich master is wonderful..." Shengwan said cheerfully.
At this moment, she was a joyous Shengwan.
She felt joy not only from smooth work but also a sense of revenge fulfilled. Why there was such a feeling, she doesn’t quite remember.
The Shengwan during her unowned period couldn’t retain much memory; thus, she couldn’t clearly recall the betrayal of countless years ago, where the locust demons turned against the Divine Spirit Clan, causing the death of numerous divine spirits.
So these pleasures can only be considered as the result of instinct.
"The master has given me other materials, let’s refine the second ghost soldier. Given the difficulty of refining an Eternal Ghost Soldier, forming one is enough to earn praise, but if I can create more, the master will surely be even more pleased."
With eagerness to succeed, the Divine Pellet took out another material, and this time used the Spirit of the Extreme Ice Immortal.
[Extreme Ice Immortal, male, date of birth unknown, formerly a general of the Heavenly Court, later defected. After the split of the Liangyi Sect, he founded the White Demon Sect. Intent on annexing the Black Demon Sect, defeated by the master in the battle at Yishi Palace, then captured...] The Divine Pellet seemed to be quite proficient in the art of Soul Search, and upon contact with the Extreme Ice Immortal, immediately gained insight into his life.
"It hurts, it hurts so much!" The Extreme Ice Immortal, sealed and restricted, initially in a state of unconsciousness, was awakened painfully by the Divine Pellet’s brute soul-searching actions.
Upon waking to see himself being refined, he was furious, "What are you doing to me? Do you know who I am, sob sob sob..."
The Extreme Ice Immortal wanted to say more, but the Divine Pellet cast a divine art to seal his words and tongue.
[Hmph! This Divine Pellet has no obligation to listen to the chatter of food!]
She instinctively regarded the Extreme Ice Immortal as food the master had hunted, focusing solely on how to prepare this food perfectly.
Oh, wait.
Almost forgot that the goal was to refine ghost soldiers for the master, nearly brewed this piece of meat into soup.
Let’s get to work, let’s get to work! Refine Ghost Soldiers!
...
A long time later, the second ghost soldier is successfully refined!
The Eternal Ghost Soldiers guarding the surroundings increased from the initial four to six!
The sixth ghost soldier, Eternal Extreme Ice, First Order Quasi-Saint cultivation.
"Wow, it succeeded again! When the master knows, he’ll be very happy!" The Divine Pellet became even happier.
She cheerfully took out the third material—the Spirit of the Earth Mansion Star Lord.
[Earth Mansion Star Lord, Ancient Emperor cultivation, power comparable to a Quasi-Saint of the Decline... This material doesn’t seem as strong as the previous one.] The Divine Pellet glanced disdainfully at the Spirit of the Earth Mansion Star Lord—don’t ask where her eyes are, only the Divine Pellet knows such things.
Then, the Divine Pellet began to refine the third ghost soldier.
Unfortunately, this refinement failed.
"Waaah! I’ve failed the master’s expectations, I’m such a super-duper dumb Pellet!"
Heartbroken, the Divine Pellet cried.
Thick, black tears like ink dripped down, each tear drop would crash into the ground with a huge pit, everything was obliterated by these tears.
If she continued crying, the Sacrificial Altar Mountain might be cried into oblivion by the Divine Pellet, but fortunately, she didn’t cry for long.
She wasn’t a fragile Pellet, a mere failure wouldn’t knock her down!
"I want to grow stronger, get even stronger, so I can improve the success rate of the ghost soldier refinement! Divine Art Nine, All-Things Gathering!"
The Divine Pellet extended her tiny hand—don’t ask where the hand is—toward the sky, instantaneously, countless spiritual energies converged and were inhaled by the Divine Pellet through her small mouth.
Something terrible happened!
The Divine Pellet’s stomach acted like an abyss, madly absorbing spiritual energy, and within a short time, a third of the spiritual energy from the Partridge Head Palace was absorbed by the Divine Pellet!
The Five-Grains Emperor and others were terrified by the Divine Pellet’s actions!
Although absorbing spiritual energy is common, none had ever seen such a frightening absorption; in just a short time, the Divine Pellet absorbed a third of local spiritual energy, if she absorbs it a few more times, this place would be reduced to a barren land.
Such a terrifying black ball!
After absorbing a large amount of spiritual energy, the Divine Pellet’s entire sphere was revitalized, and to her delight, she unintentionally awakened a divine art.
Divine Art Nine, All-Things Gathering!
The Divine Spirit Clan possesses nine great divine powers known as the Nine Divine Spirit Arts; the divine art she awakened ranked ninth among them. Though the lowest tier, it was enough to make her happy. It’s known that wild Divine Pellets are not qualified to awaken divine arts, and even those that serve a master have few opportunities to achieve this.
She was the lowest tier of Divine Pellet, yet she could awaken a divine art, how delightful!
"It must be because my master is none other than Wood Father God, that’s why..." The Divine Pellet attributed her luck to Ning Fan, and indeed this was the case. The divine status of Wood Father God was immensely powerful, without doubt, if this Pellet was of a higher tier, she might be gifted with even stronger divine arts.
The Divine Pellet hummed a little tune joyfully, began refining the next ghost soldier.
After absorbing a significant amount of spiritual energy, the success rate of ghost soldier refinement indeed improved considerably, the current refinement had some twists but eventually succeeded.
Changsang Daoist also became an Eternal Ghost Soldier.
Ning Fan’s Eternal Ghost Soldiers increased to seven.
"Who shall I refine next? That’s it, it’s him."
The Divine Pellet chose the Pseudo-Sage Puppet Immortal Stone.
She initially thought this refinement would succeed again, but a peculiar event occurred.
After the Immortal Stone was killed and refined by the Refining God Cauldron, its souls disappeared without being absorbed by the Netherworld Ghost Flower.
This naturally resulted in a failure to refine it into a ghost soldier.
"Failed again, damn, damn, I’m such a super-duper dumb Pellet!"
The Divine Pellet felt a bit discouraged.
She didn’t know, using Puppet Immortal Stone to refine an Eternal Ghost Soldier was bound to fail.
Ning Fan had also tried using an Immortal Stone for refining ghost soldiers, and it failed due to unknown reasons. There seemed to be quite a secret about the Immortal Stone...
"Hopefully, the next one will succeed..." The Divine Pellet felt a lack of confidence.
There were three materials left for refining ghost soldiers.
Material one, Second-Grade Quasi-Saint Divine Foot Great Immortal, who had besieged Ning Fan, invited by Beihai True Lord, but unfortunately captured by Ning Fan.
Material two, Velvet Antler Immortal possessing twelve thousand tribulations of mana, captured by Ning Fan’s Merit Umbrella within the Reverse Ten Absolute Formation.
Material three, similarly possessing Quasi-Saint cultivation, Ganoderma Immortal.
"This Velvet Antler’s medicinal power is so strong! This Ganoderma is nice too... Refining ghost soldiers only involves destroying their souls, keeping these medicinal bodies for the master to enjoy..."
"But this Divine Foot Great Immortal cultivation is too high, seems difficult to refine..."
"The Divine Pellet will work harder! Yes, yes!"
Time slowly passed.
The eighth ghost soldier, Eternal Velvet Antler Immortal was successfully refined.
The ninth ghost soldier, Eternal Ganoderma Immortal was successfully refined.
The most difficult was the Divine Foot Great Immortal, to refine this last ghost soldier, the Divine Pellet once again operated her divine art, absorbing a third of spiritual energy from Partridge Head Palace. Finally, even this Second-Grade Quasi-Saint was refined into a ghost soldier by the Divine Pellet.
Ning Fan’s number of ghost soldiers, for the first time, reached ten!
"Phew, although failed twice, ultimately succeeded with six, the master should praise me." At the thought of soon receiving Ning Fan’s praise, the Pellet was extremely happy.
However, her happiness didn’t last long as an anomaly occurred.
As the number of Netherworld Ghost Flower’s ghost soldiers reached ten, the ten soldiers suddenly seemed possessed, starting to kill each other.
No, they weren’t fighting!
They were devouring each other!
"What’s happening! What’s happening! I refined the ghost soldiers correctly, why did this incident occur!" The Divine Pellet was frightened and thought she made a mistake.
But actually, the slaughter of ten ghost soldiers had nothing to do with her.
Any Netherworld Ghost Flower contractor, the first time the number of ghost soldiers reaches ten, similar incidents happen.
Ten ghost soldiers will battle each other, devour each other, ultimately leaving only one, but this one will absorb the power and divine skills of all other soldiers for its own use.
This is the truly terrifying aspect of the Netherworld Ghost Flower!
"What should I do, how can I stop these ghost soldiers from killing each other?"
The Divine Pellet tried to stop the ghost soldiers but it was all in vain.
The weakest of these ghost soldiers had Semi-Saint cultivation, the strongest, Eternal Divine Foot, was a Second-Grade Quasi-Saint, how could the Pellet alone possibly stop them!
The Divine Pellet could only watch helplessly while anxious tears fell.
Finally, the Second-Grade cultivation Divine Foot Great Immortal devoured the other nine ghost soldiers.
He became the sole remaining ghost soldier!
He was originally Second-Grade Quasi-Saint cultivation and, after absorbing the full power of nine ghost soldiers, the aura around Divine Foot was terrifyingly strong.
The Five-Grains Emperor just took a remote glance and was thoroughly certain that the power of this Eternal Divine Foot Great Immortal could rival that of the Fire Fish Immortal in the Partridge Fire Palace!
This is an existence of the Ancient Great Cultivation Level!
"Terrifying, too terrifying! What is the origin of that black ball, able to refine an Ancient Great Cultivator!" Feeling the chilling, bone-corroding aura of the Eternal Divine Foot, the Five-Grains Emperor couldn’t help but shiver inwardly.
It seemed that with just a thought from this person, their entire cultivation as Immortal Emperor would be frozen and crushed!
Impossible to resist! Absolutely no match!
Amid the remaining ghost soldiers, Great Immortal Shenzu coldly snorted at Divine Pellet, seemingly unsatisfied with Divine Pellet, his eyes full of provocation, as if he wanted to invite Divine Pellet to a battle.
To command the ghost soldiers, one must possess the strength that the ghost soldiers acknowledge, hence Great Immortal Shenzu challenged Divine Pellet.
Unfortunately, Divine Pellet was stunned at the moment and completely ignored Great Immortal Shenzu’s challenge.
Seeing Divine Pellet unwilling to fight, Great Immortal Shenzu snorted disdainfully, his figure shaking before transforming into clusters of ghostly qi, retreating into the thorns of the Netherworld Ghost Flower.
Divine Pellet turned a blind eye to this.
She was still in a daze!
No, saying she was stunned was not fitting; she was scared stiff!
"I’ve caused trouble!"
"I’ve messed everything up!"
"The ghost soldiers I refined have consumed the master’s original ghost soldiers. The master originally had four ghost soldiers, but now, only one remains..."
"The master will surely be disappointed in me..."
"I’m truly an incredibly foolish Divine Pellet!"
"My existence in this world is a disgrace to the Divine Pellet clan..."
"I am more insignificant than the toughest ingredients..."
Divine Pellet’s emotions were crumbling!
...
How Divine Pellet collapsed, Ning Fan could not know.
He only vaguely sensed that his quantity of ghost soldiers had increased to ten, yet mysteriously reverted to one.
While the number of ghost soldiers had changed, it was not exactly a negative outcome, as the one remaining ghost soldier seemed to have its cultivation elevated to that of an Ancient Great Cultivator due to the turmoil...
"A ghost soldier of Ancient Great Cultivation level, that’s indeed intriguing. Speaking of which, this Divine Pellet is really impressive, eight refinements, six successes, and the two failures included factors related to Immortal Stones."
It was only at this moment that Ning Fan realized that the Divine Pellet he had picked up was indeed a treasure.
With this Divine Pellet, he could delegate all the time-consuming refinement tasks to her.
Divine Pellet’s ghost soldier refinement was quite smooth.
Ning Fan’s search for the Primordial Sacrificial Meat, however, was not going so smoothly.
Deep within Sacrificial Altar Mountain, inside a particular temple, Ning Fan looked at an empty offering table, frowning.
The intoxicating aroma of meat lingered, yet the sacrificial meat that should have been here was nowhere to be found.
Where has the sacrificial meat gone?
Could it be that the Primordial Sacrificial Meat here has transformed into a demon, and upon my arrival, hid elsewhere?
While musing over this, Ning Fan suddenly felt numerous gazes stealthily observing him.
With an expressionless face, he turned around to look at the broken statues in the temple, catching an eerie scene.
Statues that once appeared kind and benevolent now all wore sinister smiles directed at him.
"An audacious Era of Decline youngster dares to steal from the River and Mountain Sheji Temple in the Ziwei Immortal Realm, quite bold!"
"Hehe, this seems not to be an ordinary junior, I sense a detestable aura about him."
"It’s the aura of a Purple Astral Immortal Cultivator!"
"All Purple Astral Immortal Cultivators deserve to be killed!"
"Too bad, he’s merely an Immortal King, hardly worth the effort!"
"Weak, incredibly weak!"
"An old man like me could kill him with merely a thought!"
"No one interfere! This person is my blood food, I claim the first bite!"
Ning Fan frowned impatiently.
From what he sensed, all these statues had transformed into demons over the long years.
The cultivation of the statues was not particularly high, merely Immortal Venerable Immortal Kings, yet perhaps because they absorbed copious amounts of Incense Flame power, each statue’s aura carried a trace of Immortal Creature essence.
Perhaps considering themselves eternal, they spoke with such audacity.
Frogs at the bottom of a well, precisely what it was.
"I’ll ask only once, where is the sacrificial meat hidden?" Ning Fan asked coldly.
"Hahahahahaha!" The statues cackled in unison as if hearing a hilarious joke.
Immediately after, the statues recklessly attacked Ning Fan.
Immediately after that, Ning Fan summoned the Yin-Yang Five Swords, and since then, there were no more troublesome statues in that temple.
After a period of sensing, Ning Fan slashed out another sword strike, instantly shattering an abandoned space beside him.
This was the storage space created by the statues.
All the sacrificial meat had been stored here for countless ages. Perhaps due to its processing with Incense Flame power, the sacrificial meat hadn’t transformed into demons.
Together with the sacrificial meat, there was a short, rotund old man with a white beard, wielding a staff, crouched silently in the corner.
The old man’s cultivation was not high, just barely reaching the semblance of an Eternal Immortal Venerable. He had been confined here for countless years, his eyes vacant and dull, seemingly played out.
Seeing Ning Fan arrive, the old man stared in disbelief, then later tears of joy welled up.
"I knew it! I knew the Shanhai Arbiter would never abandon this place!"
"May I ask, Immortal, if you were sent from Four Heavens to rescue this place?"
"???" Ning Fan looked at the overly familiar white-bearded old man, feeling baffled.
The old man realized Ning Fan didn’t respond and paused; was he mistaken? Was the person before him merely an accidental intruder and not sent by the Shanhai Arbiter?
However, just then, the staff the old man wielded started to resonate.
It was a bamboo staff crafted from the Sichun Bamboo of the Shanhai Arbiter. One of its remarkable traits was that its appearance would change along with the seasons in the Shanhai Arbiter.
In spring, it appears as green bamboo, in summer as red bamboo, in autumn as yellow bamboo, and in winter as white bamboo.
Before Ning Fan arrived, the old man’s bamboo staff was black, not resembling any seasonal color due to being away from the Shanhai Arbiter for too long, its vitality long exhausted, unable to sense the Arbiter’s seasons.
But now! The staff that had lost its vitality was revitalized by the Daoist energy unintentionally emanating from Ning Fan.
Gradually, it morphed from black to green bamboo!
This bamboo staff could now reflect the seasons of the Shanhai Arbiter once again!
But how could that be possible?
The dead Sichun Bamboo cannot revive, just as a deceased Immortal dispersed in thoughts cannot regain them.
Yet, incredibly, this unimaginable occurrence was happening right now! The old man stared at the bamboo staff aghast, speechless for a long time, before suddenly considering a possibility, overwhelmed with emotion, tears flooding his eyes.
"So, sir is one of the Five Shanhai Arbiters! This humble immortal greets the Eminent Enforcer!"
After saying that, the old man trembled as he knelt on the ground and kowtowed in gratitude before Ning Fan.
"???" Ning Fan remained perplexed.
But he politely assisted the old man to his feet and asked, "May I ask your name, fellow Daoist? Why are you here?"
"In response to your question, sir, this humble immortal is the earth deity of Sacrificial Altar Mountain in this realm. As for why I’m here, it’s a long story, all due to those statues that turned into spirits..." The old man seemed to have a bellyful of grievances he was ready to lament to Ning Fan, but Ning Fan waved his hand, "If it’s a long story, then there’s no need to tell it."
He had no leisure time for the hardship tales of an unfamiliar old man.
Eating was the priority!
"Understood." The old man swallowed his grievance, seeing clearly that the "Eminent Enforcer" before him seemed to have a different purpose for visiting, naturally refraining from wasting more words.
Watching Ning Fan disregard him, directly approaching the sacrificial meat, the old man slapped his forehead with understanding.
"Sir indeed came for the sacrificial meat! That should have been realized earlier! The usurper of Ziwei Lord’s actions, I’ve reported long ago, but there was no response from the department, likely due to concerns about Ziwei Lord’s status. Luckily, now that Ziwei Lord is deceased, handling this sacrificial meat should proceed without obstacles."
Ning Fan ignored the old man, still unable to comprehend his words.
Seeing the sacrificial meat before him, Ning Fan felt as though countless ravenous beasts growled within, hardly able to restrain himself, stretching his hand to take the sacrificial meat.
"Sir, you must not! This sacrificial meat is inedible! What you’re holding is the meat of Demon Lord Silkworm Throng; for our Shanhai Arbiters, consuming even a bite results in a decade-long regression in Dao!" The old man urgently exclaimed, trying to dissuade him.