"Fang Sheng, fight me!"
The moment Ning Fan arrived, a heavy aura force appeared which felt as if a torrential mountain rain was about to fall upon the entire cloud mountain.
All the cultivators near the cloud mountain regardless of cultivation level felt difficulties in breathing. All of them were unable to withstand Ning Fan's forceful aura force.
Yu Chong Er looked up at the sea of clouds and stared at the white-robed young man who stood above the ancient golden sword.
At this moment, Ning Fan was no longer his usual easygoing self. His eyes contained a stubborn determination – the determination to wipe out the eight palaces!
Ning Fan's current state was similar to the time where he engaged in a bloody battle in the Blood Dragon Pool, powerful and formidable!
"Did White-Robed Marquis come to fight against the palace lords of the other eight palaces to comprehend the rain steles or to establish his might…?" Yu Bai spoke while contemplating..
"No. He's not fighting for any of those reasons… He must have an extremely important reason to defeat the eight palaces by himself…" Yu Chong Er muttered to herself.
The eyes of all the Divine Transformation Realm revered elders of the Serene Heaven Palace were filled with respect and awe. Not a single Divine Transformation Realm cultivator there could withstand Ning Fan's aura force. All of them were stupefied and could not move!
Revered Snow could not. The ugly man, Yun Lie, could not, let alone the lowly Nascent Soul Realm divine messenger, Yun Kuang who was directly pinned to the ground by Ning Fan's aura force!
When they were in Great Jin in the past, Yun Kuang had caused some trouble for Ning Fan several times because of Yin Suqiu. However, Ning Fan destroyed his Dao Heart in return. Fifty years had passed but Yun Kuang's cultivation base did not improve at all. He had failed to go through the bottleneck of his cultivation multiple times. During his last attempt, both of his eyes were even destroyed by the heavenly tribulation…
Fifty years ago, he was a Nascent Soul Realm old monster while Ning Fan was merely a Harmonious Spirit Realm ant.
Fifty years later, a single trace of Ning Fan's qi could make him unable to stand on his feet!
"Compared to him, what else can I be other than an insignificant ant…? All I can be is a lowly ant…" Yun Kuang was prostrated on the ground, overwhelmed with frustration and despair.
Ning Fan stood on the peak of the clouds and kept his ancient sword without even sparing Yun Kuang a glance. He was inferior to him in their last encounter and was still inferior to him today.
Ning Fan's eyes were only focused on Fang Sheng alone, waiting for him to accept his challenge!
"You successively defeated both Marquis Long Nan and Huang Gu. I'm afraid you already possess strength that makes you unrivalled among Void Pierce Stage experts. Then, show me if you really are as strong as me!"
*Chi*
Fang Sheng's old eyes shone with light. His body turned into a snow-white travelling light and he appeared above the sea of clouds in the next instant. The aura force coming from his body was like a fierce gale, making his white robes flutter in the wind.
Fang Sheng used his magic power and the Ocean of Void immediately emerged beneath his feet. Standing above the Ocean of Void, his magic power seemed endless and inexhaustible.
He lifted one of his fingers which gave off an extremely brilliant cloud light. Then, he pointed it at Ning Fan while shouting coldly.
"Cloud Mask Technique!"
As the cloud light scattered, millions of white clouds formed all around Ning Fan. Each of them had a ghost face which was eerily grinning hideously.
The several millions of ghost faces then started to take in breaths together, sucking in the air around them. Within seconds, they completely devoured the aura force that Ning Fan exuded. Aside from that, traces of magic power were also drawn out from Ning Fan's body and were absorbed by those ghost faces.
Ning Fan's expression turned slightly cold as he sensed that the magic power within his body was being drained temporarily. He tried to use his devil flames to get rid of the clouds.
However, just as he tried to produce his devil flames, his magic power was being drained even faster. Even his essence qi was starting to be depleted.
Meanwhile, Ning Fan had a feeling that the clouds with the ghost faces could devour most magic techniques. Even his black flames would not be able to do anything to them… Fang Sheng's magic technique certainly is strange and wicked.
"This is… A Peak Mortal Void Realm magic technique, Cloud Mask Technique!" A Divine Transformation Realm revered elder regained his mobility and exclaimed in surprise.
"Palace Lord Fang Sheng had once completely extracted the magic power of a few Void Pierce Stage experts using this technique. Since he has used this technique, it won't take long for White-Robe Marquis' magic power to be completely drained by the ghost faces on the white clouds!"
"Those white clouds can devour magic power and absorb all kinds of magic attacks. From what I've heard, only cultivators who cultivate a unique consciousness and sense can resist the clouds."
"Once White-Robed Marquis loses all of his magic power, he won't stand a chance against Palace Lord Fang Sheng no matter how strong he is!"
The discussions of the crowd on the cloud mountain echoed into Ning Fan's ears. Within a few breaths, seventy percent of his total magic power and essence qi had been absorbed by the ghost faces.
He turned to look at the clouds with ghost faces in the sky. In the next second, his eyes flashed with determination as he abruptly spread out his sword sense.
In the sea of clouds, a droplet of thick ink spread across the vast sky. In an instant, it transformed into black sword light which filled the sky and shielded the sun, cutting down countless clouds with ghost faces.
"Sword sense, huh… Indeed, I can't defeat you with just my Cloud Mask Technique. Fishing Net of Creation!"
Fang Sheng was not too surprised upon seeing his Cloud Mask Technique being broken by Ning Fan.
To him, it was already great that he was able to deplete seventy percent of Ning Fan's magic power using this technique at the beginning of their fight. At this moment, Fang Sheng already had a certain assurance of his victory.
As he pointed out a finger, traces of white magic power flowed out from his finger, weaving themselves into a massive fishing net.
When he cast the fishing net into the sky, it instantly turned into tens of thousands of nets.
Several ten thousand fishing nets fell toward Ning Fan, enveloping him. The threads of the fishing lines were extremely tough. Even a Void Pierce Stage attack would not be able to break them apart.
If Ning Fan were to face this technique in Song Country ten years ago, he who had yet to gather all the Heavenly Cold Qi and Earth Flames at that point of time would not be able to destroy the fishing nets using his Yin Yang Flame.
Even an Absolute Void Stage cultivator might not necessarily be able to destroy the fishing net. Moreover, Fang Sheng did not think that the current Ning Fan whose magic power had been greatly depleted could release a magic technique at the Absolute Void Stage using his remaining thirty percent of magic power.
"You've lost! Don't worry. I will only wrap you using the fishing nets without hurting you. However, since you can't beat me, you aren't allowed to study my rain stele. It's still too early for you to defeat me with your current cultivation level."
"Is that so?!"
Ning Fan abruptly made a stomp on the sky, causing it to break and revealing the boundless and endless void space.
He clawed at the earth, drawing out the soul of the great earth within the area of four hundred thousand li* (500m per li)!
Then, he clawed at the void space, extracting the soul of the void within the vicinity of four hundred thousand li* (500m per li)!
He opened his mouth and swallowed both the earth's and the void's souls. All of a sudden, he gained an additional ten million units of magic power!
His aura force was gradually increasing and the magic power within him reached eighteen million and two hundred thousand units. His current magic power was much more than what Fang Sheng had!
"Soul Extraction Technique! Additionally, it's actually at the second level which enables him to extract the soul of the void!" Fang Sheng's expression turned pale with shock.
The Soul Extraction Technique was one of the three Void Fragmentation Realm abilities. However, even for Void Fragmentation Realm old monsters, not all of them know this technique.
In the Rain World, the only person who managed to cultivate the Soul Extraction Technique up to the second level was the Rain Sovereign!
Ning Fan was the second cultivator in the Rain World who could extract the soul of the void!
"Incinerate!"
Ning Fan raised his finger and pointed into the sky above him, directing it at the thousands of fishing nets.
A column of black flames spread across the sea of clouds. Moreover, nine peerless black fire dragons that breathed flames dashed out from the sea of flames, burning the fishing nets into ashes with relative ease.
After ten years, he had already gathered all twenty-four types of Heavenly Cold Qi and Earth Flames. The power of his devil flame was now comparable to that of a High Rank Seventh Grade spiritual flame!
Perhaps Ning Fan would not be able to destroy the fishing nets if they were displayed by a Void Fragmentation Realm expert. However, it was a different story when Fang Sheng was the user of the technique!
"What?!" Fang Sheng was shocked once again. The Fishing Net of Creation was a supreme secret technique that the sixth prince bestowed upon him. However, Ning Fan had already burned all of it into ashes with a column of black flames…
What is that spiritual flame?! Is there such a high-grade spiritual flame in the Rain World?!
Before he could even recover from his shock, cold sweat suddenly trickled down his back.
The nine fire dragons turned their heads toward Fang Sheng. Their eyes glowed with bloodlust.
The nine black dragons were created from a High Rank Seventh Grade flame. Not even the Void Fragmentation Realm experts in the Rain World possessed such an incredible flame!
Ning Fan displayed this black flame using magic power that was close to the level of the Absolute Void Stage. Even an Absolute Void Stage expert would not stand a chance against the fire dragons!
The nine fire dragons charged at Fang Sheng, carrying columns of fire which engulfed him.
In just a few breaths, Fang Sheng hurriedly jumped out of the fire like Ning Fan's previous opponent, Huang Gu, and fell down from the sky, crashing into the summit of the cloud mountain.
Ning Fan did not say a word. He recovered his black flame and descended to the cloud mountain.
Fang Sheng climbed up from the huge pit that was created from his fall and stared at Ning Fan with confusion all over his face. Then, he said with a sigh.
"I've lost to you…"
Fang Sheng knew that Ning Fan had already gone easy on him.
Otherwise, he certainly would not have been able to withstand it if Ning Fan produced such a high-grade black flame using all of his magic power that was also being boosted to a frightening level with the Soul Extraction Technique.
Except for experts at the Absolute Void Stage and above, no one could have withstood the might of Ning Fan's black flame…
"White-Robed Marquis, please come with me. I'll now bring you to the inner part of the mountain to show you the rain stele of the Serene Heaven Palace…"
Ning Fan then followed Fang Sheng to the inner part of the cloud mountain without saying anything.
Among the cultivators on the entire cloud mountain, there were cultivators from the Serene Heaven Realm as well as those from the other realms. All of them were deathly silent.
"Even the Serene Heaven Palace has lost… Of those who can still resist White-Robed Marquis, only the Great Heaven Palace and the Vast Heaven Palace remain…"
"In my opinion, even the Great Heaven Palace might not be able to defeat White-Robed Marquis. After all, the Great Heaven Palace Lord is only at the Peak Void Pierce Stage… I'm afraid only the Vast Heaven Palace Lord will have a chance of defeating him as he is a genuine Absolute Void Stage expert…"
*Chi*
After an incense stick of time, Ning Fan flew out from the inner part of the mountain, flying to the next realm.
Along the way, Ning Fan ate several pills to recover his magic power. There was a slight delay in his arrival as he only reached the Profound Heaven Realm three days later.
The seventh realm of the Heavenly Cloud Country – Profound Heaven Realm!
Countless cultivators had already heard of the Serene Heaven Palace Lord's defeat three days ago. All of them quickly rushed to the Profound Heaven Realm using the teleportation formations in their own realms, eagerly waiting to watch another great battle.
At this moment, no cultivator doubted Ning Fan's determination in challenging the eight palaces.
Be it to study the rain steles or to establish his might, Ning Fan's true objective in challenging the eight palaces was not something that everyone was concerned about.
Everyone only wanted to know if Ning Fan could beat the eight palace lords with just his own strength and become the strongest individual of the nine palaces!
*Chi*
A golden sword light travelled across layers of sea of clouds and descended on the peak of the cloud mountain of the Profound Heaven Palace!
Ning Fan stood among the clouds, looking down on the Profound Heaven Palace atop the cloud mountain. The Profound Heaven Palace was the division supervised by the third prince of the Rain Palace – Yun Bushu…
In the Rain World, the Profound Heaven Palace was the only division that had a friendly relationship with the Great Heaven Palace.
In the Rain World, Yun Bushu was the only prince who had a life and death friendship with Yun Tianjue.
Ning Fan sighed. He already knew that he was Yun Tianjue's son. Logically speaking, it was inappropriate for him to challenge the palace lord of the Profound Heaven Sect and humiliate their palace.
However, in order to obtain the complete rain technique and find his mother within the large territory of the Central State, he had no choice but to fight them…
He gently closed his eyes and said with a clear voice.
"I have no intention of making an enemy of the Profound Heaven Palace. However, I have no other options but to fight the Profound Heaven Palace Lord in order to study your rain stele. I hope the Profound Heaven Palace Lord can forgive me…"
"*Coughing several times* White-Robed Marquis must be joking. How can I dare to fight you…? I concede defeat!"
An old man in bright yellow dragon robes stood on the peak of the cloud mountain and cupped his fists at Ning Fan, announcing his surrender.
This man's hair was gray and his face looked old. He had an imposing and dignified bearing with an intimidatingly vigorous qi. Even so, his cultivation level was only at the Void Glimpse Stage.
Ning fan was slightly stunned by that old man's actions. He had met him once before.
When he was at the External Endless Sea in the past, he killed Revered Snow and offended the Rain Palace. However, he was recommended to be a revered elder of the Rain Palace by two of their Void Refinement Realm experts.
From being a palace lord of a low-level division, Luo Jun was promoted to be the palace lord of the Profound Heaven Palace which was one of the nine greatest palaces of the Rain Palace because of his contributions of discovering an individual with the Indestructible Fire Body.
Yun Bushu who was overseeing the Profound Heaven Palace was also known as, 'Leisure Cloud Prince'. As for Luo Jun, he was a person who did not have great ambition. All he wanted was to make a living in the Profound Heaven Palace and had no desire to excel over others and fight for power.
He originally planned to live his life peacefully while enjoying his status as the Profound Heaven Palace Lord and hoped to just break through to the Void Inquiry Stage in his lifetime.
However, who could have thought that the dignified White-Robed Marquis would actually come to challenge him who was a lowly Void Glimpse Stage cultivator?
How could he dare to accept his challenge? Even Marquis Long Nan, Huang Gu and Fang Sheng lost to Ning Fan. A lowly Void Glimpse Stage cultivator like him would probably be unable to even withstand a single finger attack from Ning Fan…
"I've admitted defeat. White-Robed Marquis can directly enter the inner of the mountain and see the rain stele!"
"Sounds good."
Ning Fan nodded and kept his ancient sword, descending onto the summit of the Profound Heaven Realm's cloud mountain.
He was also unwilling to bully a Void Glimpse Stage cultivator of the Profound Heaven Palace using his powerful cultivation base and ruin his relationship with Yun Bushu.
The two of them entered the inner part of the mountain. Everyone on the cloud mountain sighed emotionally.
"I didn't expect that the dignified Profound Heaven Palace Lord would actually surrender without hesitation… However, he made a wise decision. With his cultivation base, he certainly wouldn't last a single round with White-Robed Marquis."
"*Sigh* It's such a waste that we did not have the luck of spectating a fight between Void Refinement Realm experts after rushing to the Profound Heaven Realm… Anyway, it's better we look for a teleportation formation at once and head over to the next realm and wait for White-Robed Marquis' arrival!"
On the cloud mountain, a handsome young man was filled with dejection. He was the prodigy of the Profound Heaven Palace as well as Yun Bushu's adopted son – Yun Niansu.
"Nobody is worthy of being the strongest of the current generation of prodigies in the Rain World except him… Ning Fan, huh… I am not as good as him… But I just don't understand why Father wants to see him…"
…
Inside the mountain, Ning Fan passed through the formation along with Luo Jun and entered the palace, heading directly to the main hall.
Luo Jun was smiling apologetically throughout the way as he could not mess with someone formidable like Ning Fan.
The Rain Ancestor's stele which was nine hundred zhang* (3.33m per zhang) was emanating rain intent that could soak everything.
Luo Jun pointed at the rain stele and began introducing it to Ning Fan.
"Hehe. White-Robed Marquis, please have a look. This is the rain stele of my Profound Heaven Palace. White-Robed Marquis must be cautious when you study it to avoid getting yourself injured… Er. Y-Y… Your Highness!"
Luo Jun was suddenly shocked halfway into his introduction. He instantly cupped his fists and bowed.
A young man clothed in rags which made him look like a beggar gradually walked out from behind the rain stele.
The man's face was unshaven and had messy hair like wild grass. His facial features, however, were extremely good-looking while his presence was full of manliness.
His expression looked free and easy, as if nothing in the world could perturb him.
He did not reveal any of his qi. Those who did not know him would have no idea of his exact cultivation base. Ning Fan, however, could sense a vigorous aura force coming from him that was equivalent to an expert at the Second Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm!
He was the one and only third prince of the Rain Palace – Yun Bushu!
"Aiya Aiya. We've met once again… When we met in the Sinister Sparrow Sect last time, you were still an insignificant Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivator. It is quite unexpected for you to actually reach where you are right now after only fifty years… Er… Oh yes. My memory is not too good. What's your name again… White… White… White…"
"It's White-Robed Marquis…" Luo Jun reminded him with a light tone.
"Yes. Indeed. It's White… White… White what? Aiya. I've forgotten it again. My memory has been deteriorating every day and it's difficult for me to remember anything at all…"
Yun Bushu patted his back and burst into laughter. He was still as blunt and reckless as he was back in the day.
When his carefree eyes fell upon the blue jade around Ning Fan's neck, they suddenly turned stern.
"Blue Bridge Jade Pendant?! The jade pendant is in your hands as expected! Good kid. You've actually managed to hoodwink me in the past!"
Yun Bushu kept his smile and put on a solemn look on his face.
With a wave of his hand, a strong gust of wind directly carried Luo Jun away, sending him out of the mountain.
"I have something I want to ask you! Where did this jade pendant come from?!" Yun Bushu stood with his hands clasped behind his back. His jolly and easygoing side was no longer present in his face.
Ning Fan stared at Yun Bushu indifferently without having the slightest hint of fear.
He was not surprised that Yun Bushu would recognize this jade pendant.
When he spied on Yun Ruowei's thoughts that day, he already knew that this jade was the Blue Bridge Jade Pendant.
Even though the Blue Bridge Jade Pendant was an ancient item, it served no other purpose other than being a keepsake of a promise of love between Dao Companions.
When Yun Tianjue and Ning Qian pledged their love for each other in the past, they both made a vow on their Blue Bridge Jade Pendants. No outsider knew about it.
In other words, those who knew the meaning behind this jade pendant were not outsiders.
When Yun Bushu searched for this jade pendant in Yue Country in the past, his objective was different from the Rain Sovereign.
The Rain Sovereign was looking for someone who could threaten his life. Yun Bushu, however, was looking for his brother's wife and son.
Neither Yun Ruowei nor Yun Bushu were outsiders. In Yun Ruowei's thoughts, Yun Bushu and Yun Tianjue had a friendship forged through life and death situations…
"I can tell you about how I got this jade pendant. However, I want to know why Yun Tianjue lost his memories and why Ning Qian went missing!"
Ning Fan's eyes also became unusually somber.
Even if Yun Bushu did not come to look for him today, he would still look for a chance to see him.
He fought against the eight palaces to learn the Rain Ancestor's technique and locate his mother.
Apart from that, he also wanted to know the truth!
Who exactly sucked his blood dry and made Ning Qian mysteriously disappear!
"You really are… their child…" When Yun Bushu heard Ning Fan's questions, he seemed to have realized something immediately and his face was suddenly filled with a mixture of joy and disappointment.
He felt joy because he found Ning Fan. He felt disappointment because he understood what Ning Fan was implying.
Just like him, Ning Fan did not know where Ning Qian was… and had no idea what actually happened that year…
"I'm not too sure about what had happened that year. Or should I say, no one in the Rain World could be sure… No one knew how Ning Qian went missing. However, I personally witnessed why Big Brother lost his memories… That day, I saw a seven-colored light which soared into the sky with the figure of an old man among the lights… It's him. He's the one who erased Big Brother's memories!"
Rage gradually filled Yun Bushu's face. He had never hated anyone like this before. That mysterious old man with the seven colors, however, was absolutely despicable!
"There was another person who travelled together with that old man with the seven colors. He was the deceased prince of the Rain Palace – The Fourth Prince!"
Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel
