Lady Yun Hua was already dead, but she still looked strangely alive.
Her body had died and her heart had stopped beating, but in her meridians flowed the magical force of Corpse Refinement Technique that kept the flesh of her body from decaying. Her soul was supposed to enter the Samsara but it was now sealed in the corpse’s skull. Such Corpse Refinement Technique could retain the spiritual intelligence of the corpse, but it was only used during the ancient times. It was a technique that not even Ning Fan knew about! Otherwise, he would have dug out the corpse of Ning Honghong and resurrected her…
In other words, this female might or might not be Yun Hua.
So it turned out that the reason the petty Old Ancestor Jing Zhuo was unwilling to reveal Yun Hua wasn’t because of his small-mindedness, but afraid that someone would discern that Yun Hua was a Corpse Refinement.
Despite his Dao Companion turning into a Corpse Refinement, Jing Zhuo insisted to be with her. This red-haired old man did have an unreasonable passion for his lover.
Of course, what Jing Zhuo said wasn’t a lie, but Ning Fan still kept his silence, contemplating whether those were the truths or fallacies.
“Little friend, you don’t believe that this old man could love a dead person, don’t you…?’
“…”
“Very well. There’s nothing wrong with being careful and vigilant. Although little friend is Black Devil Ning, Revered Ning, had high cultivation base and powerful concoction technique, little friend’s expression is still limited… On the Purple-Jade Sky Platform, this old man could see through your internal struggle when you initiated the heavenly tribulation to form your core. Back then, this old man had the same struggle, but that was many years ago…”
“Oh? Fellow Doaist Jing Zhuo has also struggled in the tribulation of slashing away the sentiment before.” Ning Fan looked slightly stunned, he started to have interest in what Jing Zhuo said.
“That’s right. I have known Yun Hua before the core formation stage. At that time, Yun Hua’s innate talent was actually greater than mine, but she was unwilling to break through to the Gold Core realm because she couldn’t give this old man up. As for me, I also didn’t break through to the Gold Core realm as I was also reluctant to abandon and forget my sentiments until that incident happened. That time, the elder of Extreme Yin Gate, Purple Yin, had spotted my wife and captured her while he was out settling some tasks for his sect…”
At this point, Jing Zhuo closed his eyes in pain, which was certainly not a hint of pretense.
“Yun Hua… she’s so silly. If she obeyed Purple Yin’s orders, she wouldn’t have died. Why would she rather die than conform to that bastard’s demands…? After her death, I went into seclusion with a very depressed heart and broke through the emotional barrier! Later, I retrieved Yun Hua’s corpse and turned it into Corpse Refinement. This incident has already been hundreds of years. Across the entire Yue Country, I’m afraid that no one would remember who the original Yun Hua was. As for Purple Yin, he didn’t know that I have been wishing every day to eat his flesh, and skin him alive! However, I’m still not a match for Purple Yin… that’s why I needed the Nascent Formation Pill!’
Jing Zhuo’s eyes turned frenzied all of a sudden.
“I want to break through to Nascent Soul realm not for eternal life or colonizing the world, but only to rip Purple Yin to pieces and reduce some of the heartfelt pain in Yun Hua’s heart… I’m willing to sacrifice anything for her… do you understand…? Hehe, I guess I have said too much. Daoist Ning, if you help me in this matter, this old man is willing to gift you my Fire Cloud Sect!”
At this moment, Ning Fan’s heart was trembling fiercely!
He wasn’t shaken by Jing Zhuo’s handsome reward or desire to form an alliance or intention of exterminating Extreme Yin Gate, but Jing Zhuo’s words.
Not for eternal life or colonizing the world… Willing to sacrifice anything for her…
This was an obsession that shook even Ning Fan’s heart. Ning Fan thought that his stubbornness to not abandon his sentiments was already persistent enough. However, it was too insignificant compared to Jing Zhuo’s.
He slightly closed his eyes and remained silent.
Jing Zhuo didn’t seem like lying. No, it should be said that this man didn’t know how to lie. Although words could be used to deceive, but the Dao-heart couldn’t. Jing Zhuo’s relentless determination, unstoppable frenzy and his passion for Yun Hua moved Ning Fan.
If Extreme Yin Gate really had conspired with Heavenly Dao Sect to attack Ning City, Ning Fan would have to rely on his sole strength to fight these two huge sects. The forces of Extreme Yin Gate were immeasurable and Heavenly Dao Sect was more or less as powerful as Extreme Yin Gate.
Therefore, allying himself with Fire Cloud Sect would certainly be a wise choice. With Fire Cloud Sect diverting the attention of Extreme Yin Gate’s forces, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to exterminate Heavenly Dao Sect!
Additionally, after eradicating Extreme Yin Gate, the entire Fire Cloud Sect would be given to him as a reward.
However, this long-established sect wouldn’t have much of a use to him and it would be impossible for him to plant a Mental Seal in everyone’s mind. Even if it was possible, there were still things he couldn’t control just by simply planting a Mental Seal.
Instead of obtaining the Fire Cloud Sect, he could put forward other conditions such as the unique Corpse Refinement Technique which he was extremely interested in, large amount of spiritual herbs and ancient cultivation records that he needed.
At least, for now, he could get 200 000 Immortal Jades. He believed that if he asked Jing Zhuo for it, the old man would immediately hand over the Immortal Jades he had earned to him from the gamble.
Of course, Ning Fan was still keeping a watchful eye on Jing Zhuo.
Perhaps, Jing Zhuo would want to form an alliance before destroying the Extreme Yin Gate. When the Extreme Yin Gate was wiped off the map, Ning Fan would have suffered some kind of injuries causing a dramatic decrease in his strength. By that time, whether Jing Zhuo would change his mind or not, Ning Fan didn’t know.
In any case, it was still a right move to form an alliance to deal with Extreme Yin Gate.
“If Extreme Yin Gate really has the intention of annihilating Ning City, I would be pleased to form an alliance with fellow Daoist Jing Zhuo, but I wonder if fellow Daoist has plans of dealing with Extreme Yin Gate?”
“Yes! First of all, this old man needs a Nascent Formation Pill to break through to the Nascent Soul realm! It’s just that I don’t know if Revered Ning has the certainty to concoct one Nascent Formation Pill in a month’s time!”
…
Nascent Formation Pill?” Ning Fan seemed somewhat surprised.
“That’s right. The sect master of Heavenly Dao Sect has already went into seclusion and will only come out three months later. So these two sects will most probably launch their attack three months later.”
“Three months… in that case, I would have to make some fine preparations.”
Ning Fan muttered to himself. He didn’t inquire how Jing Zhuo got the news.
It wasn’t hard to guess. Jing Zhuo must have a spy amongst the elders of Extreme Yin Gate. Since he had been nursing the grudge to kill Purple Yin, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he had a spy in the Extreme Yin Gate for several hundred years!
“I can concoct a Nascent Formation Pill in half a month’s time, but I don’t think you can refine the power of the pill and breakthrough to the Nascent Soul realm in two month’s time.”
“You’re right. In order to ‘fully’ break through to the Nascent Soul realm, this old man will need at least a hundred years in seclusion, but what if my magical strength reached Nascent Soul realm while temporarily suppressing my cultivation base? In order to have the power to exterminate Extreme Yin Gate, I wouldn’t mind going to the Endless Sea to break through to the Nascent Soul realm…”
“So that’s how it is… in that case, you don’t have to worry about the Nascent Formation Pill. However, when fellow Daoist Jing Zhuo heads into the Endless Sea, remember to bring Ning Fan along, as Ning Fan is still unfamiliar with that place…”
“You want to go too?” Jing Zhuo seemed astonished.
“My purpose is to go to the Lost World Palace… It seems like we have the same goal in mind.” Ning Fan smiled slightly.
“*Hiss!* Fellow Daoist Ning does have quick access to information. No doubt, there’s actually a Lost World Palace in the Endless Sea, which is also where this old man wanted to go. If fellow Daoist Ning is willing to come with me, then I won’t refuse it.”
Jing Zhuo laughed pleasingly. As he had something to request from Ning Fan, he naturally wouldn’t choose to dissatisfy Ning Fan at this moment.
A glimmer of praise was seen in Ning Fan’s eyes as he gazed at Jing Zhuo. He had to admit that Jing Zhuo was a very versatile and accommodating person.
The method of consuming the Nascent Formation Pill first to boost one’s magical strength to the Nascent Soul realm, then suppressing one’s cultivation base was beyond any ordinary expert’s imagination, because it was extremely difficult, however, the fact that Jing Zhuo dared to think in such a way indicated Jing Zhuo’s confidence.
Even if Jing Zhuo’s cultivation base was the only one to reach the Nascent Soul realm and his Rank didn’t broke through, he would already have an enormous advantage while confronting the Old Monster Purple Yin.
“As such, I would like to congratulate fellow Daoist on breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm in advance.” Ning Fan said with a smile.
“Hehe, this old man will never forget fellow Daoist Ning’s kindness for making this possible. In fact, this old man still has some tricks to annihilate Purple Yin. I hope fellow Daoist Ning will adopt it.” There was extreme politeness in Jing Zhuo’s eyes. He might have some doubts about Ning Fan before this, but now, he was absolutely certain about Ning Fan.
“Tell me more about it… but before that, Ning Fan wants to ask for something from fellow Daoist Jing Zhuo.”
“If fellow Daoist needs something, just take it as you please!”
“Ning Fan needs Immortal Jades, the more the better. Ning Fan is also highly interested in the Corpse Refinement Technique that you used on your wife. As for the spiritual herbs, if fellow Daoist Jing Zhuo can help prepare sufficient spiritual herbs, Ning Fan will gladly concoct another two pills for fellow Daoist.”
Ning Fan waved his hand to take out a jade slip, imprinted the two pill recipes with his spirit sense and sent it over to Jing Zhuo.
Hearing Ning Fan’s demand for Immortal Jades and the method of Corpse Refinement Technique, Jing Zhuo didn’t seem annoyed. For the Immortal Jades, he would naturally give them to Ning Fan. The Corpse Refinement Technique was a skill he obtained in the Endless Sea by chance. Although it was something that he treasured greatly, it wasn’t something that he couldn’t pass on to someone.
It was considered normal that Ning Fan would demand something, Jing Zhuo would start to doubt Ning Fan’s sincerity if this young expert agreed to help him without any reward.
He took Ning Fan’s pill recipe, scanned it through with his spirit sense and found out that every ingredient was a precious herb and the minimum age of the herbs must be at least two thousand years.
Ning Fan’s demand was akin to a lion opening its huge maw. Jing Zhuo’s face twitched but his smile remained. Despite being stabbed by Ning Fan in such a way, he couldn’t say anything about it.
However, as he continued to read, his facial expression changed, from surprise to delight. Eventually, he looked at Ning Fan gratefully.
One of the pill recipes was the Nascent Fortification Pill. The effect of this pill could increase the success rate of Nascent Formation. Although it wasn’t as impactful as the Nascent Formation Pill, its success rate could be superimposed onto the Nascent Formation Pill.
However, the second pill recipe was the one that surprised Jing Zhuo the most. It was the Corpse Life Pill!
This pill fell into the category of the Fourth Revolution, even though it didn’t have a righteous effect – increasing the lifespan of the Corpse Refinement. However, lifespan wasn’t the accurate way of describing it because a Corpse Refinement wasn’t a living thing. Rather than saying ‘lifespan’, ‘durability of the magical treasure’ was more appropriate in this context.
A Corpse Refinement was like a magical treasure. It would go bad and the flesh in the corpse would decay one day.
So this Fourth Revolution Pill—Corpse Life Pill—was precisely the pill that would increase the years of the Corpse Refinement!
The Nascent Fortification Pill was for Jing Zhuo while the Corpse Life Pill was for Yun Hua!
Yun Hua had already lived for several hundred years now. Her soul energy had reduced significantly and the vitality in her flesh was near exhaustion. What made Jing Zhuo agonized was: firstly, he couldn’t bring Yun Hua back to life; secondly, he couldn’t prolong the life of Yun Hua’s Corpse Refinement.
As such, the Corpse Life Pill was even more precious than the Nascent Fortification Pill, and even his life!
He allied himself with Ning Fan just to have his revenge. But now, in order to prevent Yun Hua from dying, he, Jing Zhuo, was willing to put away everything and become Ning Fan’s dog.
“If fellow Daoist Ning can save Yun Hua, I, Jing Zhuo, will be willing to abandon everything in my life and become fellow Daoist’s slave!”
“There’s no need to be so polite, fellow Daoist Jing Zhuo… If you can prepare all these spiritual herbs, it will just be a small effort for me to concoct these pills.”
“Don’t worry, fellow Daoist Ning! Jing Zhuo will get all of the ingredients by hook or crook!”
Apparently, there were some spiritual herbs in the list that didn’t have the effect on the Nascent Soul formation or prolonging life. Although Jing Zhuo wasn’t a master in concoction, he was able to discern that Ning Fan was taking advantage of the pill recipes to get the spiritual herbs Ning Fan needed.
However, Jing Zhuo wouldn’t unveil it and he didn’t mind it, nothing was more important than Yun Hua.
“I guess we’ll continue with how we are going to exterminate Extreme Yin Gate…” Ning Fan smiled slightly. Certainly, Jing Zhuo had given him a favorable impression.
…
A day later, Ning Fan and Jing Zhuo made the Heart Devil’s Pledge.
And this was when the plan of destroying the Extreme Yin Gate was born!