Incomplete. I'm sorry guys. A lot of things have been happening lately. I'll finish up the previous chapter asap.
Chapter 568: Assassination.
"Lu Bei! Don't ever think that you can enjoy this mission on your own! The Min Luo puppet is mine!"
The elderly man with a pair of white eyes were smiling viciously. He called Ning Fan Lu Bei. Without a doubt, he must have seen the wanted notice that the Vine Sovereign issued and knew that Ning Fan was Lu Bei.
Ning Fan was not surprised when his identity was revealed. After all, it was not strange for that old man who was a Void Refinement Realm old monster to obtain the wanted notice with his means.
Ning Fan was not afraid of being apprehended by the Vine Sovereign. He never concealed his appearance nor deliberately hid himself throughout his entire flight. If he were to encounter enemies who came to attack him, he would just kill them.
Ning Fan's eyes scanned across the group of people indifferently. Among the nine puppet masters, eight of them looked hostile. Seemingly, he had already found out his identity.
Only that Void Glimpse Stage young lady in green robes who originally looked as calm as a millpond was currently filled with a hint of shock.
She did not seem to have expected that the elegant and refined gentleman in front of her was the devil lord that provoked the Vine Sovereign.
However, when she remembered that Ning Fan was planning to keep the entire mission to himself and seize all the Min Luo puppets, her eyes naturally flashed with enmity.
"If I insist on keeping the entire mission to myself, what can you do?"
Ning Fan said faintly with his eyes shifting toward the elderly man with white eyes.
The latter was stunned for a while. He did not expect that Ning Fan would be so strong-willed to actually ignore his threat.
With his old eyes narrowed, he snorted and said, "On the path of cultivation, the strong will be respected. If you want to take the mission on your own, then show us the strength that can convince us!"
Filler Word
The third stage – Black Stage!
Ning Fan followed the Pill Sovereign into the heavenly dwelling space where the third test would be held. As the Pill Sovereign waved his hand, the shen clouds turned illusory, transforming into a illusory world of fire.
Cracks were everywhere on the land with lava flowing below them.
Ten suns were hanging in the vault of heaven. Even Void Refinement Realm experts would have difficulties enduring the heat in this place.
"This is the illusory realm specially for testing one's pill refinement techniques. One can save up a lot of time by refining pills here. According to the standard of this stage, as long as you can concoct a Fifth Revolution Pill, you will be considered passed… To you, this stage is pretty simple. However, I wish to find out what exactly what level in pill refinement realm you have currently achieved. Thus, I hope you can show me your best in this stage."
The Pill Sovereign looked at Ning Fan with a smile. His turbid eyes were filed with hope and excitement.
He had been finicky in his life. His overly high standard dissuaded him from accepting any disciples. However, his meeting with Ning Fan had sparked the idea accepting the latter as his disciple in him.
Unfortunately, Ning Fan already had Old Devil as his master and the PIll Sovereign could only give up his thought of making him his disciple.
Ning Fan bowed respectfully to the Pill Sovereign. Then, he used the power of his intent realm to form a large black pill cauldron.
He extended his palm and clawed at every direction. The lava beneath the vast land immediately roiled, burning with even fiercer flames.
The heat from the lava and earth fire gradually warmed up the pill cauldron. When Ning Fan pointed at the ground in front of him with a finger, a jade table appeared with various fifty thousand years old spiritual herbs on top of it.
The Pill Sovereign's eyes scanned past those spiritual herbs and said while nodding his head in approval.
"These are the ingredients for concocting a Void inquiry Pill. A Void Inquiry Pill is a Mid Grade Sixth Revolution Pill. It isn't easy to make. Except for me and you, I believe that there isn't a third person in the Rain World who can concoct this pill… Begin your concoction. Show me and the cultivators of the Rain World your current pill refinement techniques! By letting the Rain Sovereign know your excellent pill refinement skills, he won't turn against you recklessly!"
The Pill Sovereign waved his long sleeve and the illusory realm suddenly trembled. A gigantic bronze mirror that was hanging upside down appeared above the sky.
At the same time, the fire light in the Temple of Rain flashed and a one hundred zhang* (3.33m per zhang) tall bronze mirror emerged.
The reflection in the bronze mirror was the exact same scene where Ning Fan was concocting pills in the illusory state.
The reason why the Pill Sovereign did so was because he wanted to show Ning Fan's Mid Grade Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm to everyone in the world!
Including Ning Fan, there were now eight Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Masters in the Rain World. If Ning Fan could concoct a Void Inquiry Pill, his pill refinement skills would at least be in the top five!
The Pill Sovereign had already noticed that the Rain Sovereign ordered Revered Sage to spy on Ning Fan.
He did not know why the Rain Sovereign was targeting at Ning Fan. From his perspective, if the Rain Sovereign finds out that Ning Fan was a talented pill refinement master, he probably would need his help in concocting pills and dismiss his enmity against him.
Ning Fan raised his head and gazed into the sky. He gently sighed when he saw the large bronze mirror in the vault of heavens.
He could tell that the Pill Sovereign summoned it with the best of intentions. Therefore, he cupped his fists and expressed his gratitude to him. The Pill Sovereign, however, smiled at him and waved his hand, telling him that he did not need treat him like an outsider.
In the Temple of Rain, every old monster shifted their eyes to the bronze mirror. They were quite interested in Ning Fan's pill refinement skills.
When some old monsters saw the jade table and noticed that the ingredients which Ning Fan was planning to use were all fifty thousand years old spiritual herbs, their eyes widened with surprise.
"Fifty thousand years old spiritual herbs! According to hearsay, White-Robed Marquis is the eighth Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Master of the Rain World. Today, he indeed is going to concoct a Sixth Revolution Pill!"
"*Tsk Tsk Tsk* Even though he is just nine hundred years old, he is already a Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Master. His innate talent in pill refinement is truly rare in this world. Perhaps he will be the next Pill Sovereign in our Rain World!"
The cultivation of most of the old monsters in the temple were at the Void Refinement Realm. Therefore, it was impossible for them to treat a Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Master with contempt.
Only a green-robed elderly man who had a haughty expression shook his head with disapproval and said, "The next Pill Sovereign? Hehe. Although it's a fact that the White-Robed Marquis has great capabilities, he might not necessarily be able to travel far on the Dao of Alchemy. His innate talent is quite excellent for being able to attain the Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm at such a young age. However, he has committed too many killings which made his devil heart difficult to be erased. I'm afraid he has no chance in breaking through to the Mid Grade Sixth Revolution in his entire life!"
As soon as the old man's voice fell, everyone turned toward him and discovered that he was the sect master of the Five Elements Sect – Qing Yuanzi.
Qing Yuanzi was a Low Grade Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Master. He was always the center of attention and took pride in his extraordinary life.
Recently, he had even touched the bottleneck of the Mid Grade Sixth Revolution Realm and claimed that he could achieve the improvement in his pill refinement realm within one hundred years.
He said firmly that it would be impossible for Ning Fan to attain the Mid Grade Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm in his entire life. When he said that, many old monsters also felt the same way and nodded their heads gently.
The Dao of Alchemy emphasized one's temperament the most. Ning Fan was a devil cultivator who had committed countless slaughters. Thus, it was reasonable to say that he would have difficulties in achieving success in the Dao of Alchemy.
At the same time, some old monsters were staring at Qing Yuanzi in a weird way as they thought of something else.
Qing Yuanzi might have a bad temperament, but he was no fool. Despite knowing very well that Ning Fan was not someone he should mess with, he still said badly about him at this moment to tatter his reputation. Was it because someone directed him to do so in the dark…?
The Five Elements Sect had a close relationship with the fifth prince, Yun Zhongyan… Could it be that it was Yun Zhongyan's intention to let Qing Yuanzi said those words?
Some old monsters glanced at Yun Zhongyan secretly and saw that his eyes were filled with a hint of pleasure. Besides, he even gave Qing Yuanzi a look of approval…
Without a doubt, Qing Yuanzi was very likely to have received Yun Zhongyan's order to say something bad about Ning Fan.
Qing Yuanzi felt a rush of joy after ridiculing Ning Fa.
However, just as he finished speaking, an old monster in the crowd exclaimed in surprise.
"T-These are… These are the ingredients to make a Void Inquiry Pill! Is the White-Robed Marquis trying to concoct a Void Inquiry Pill?!"
The person who cried in surprise was an old man in white robes. He was standing beneath the bronze mirror, looking carefully at the spiritual herbs on the jade table in the mirror.
This man was the lord of the Flowing Cloud Valley. He was a hair's breadth away from attaining the Absolute Void Stage.
The Flowing Cloud Valley was one of the thirteen sects in the Central State. As the lord of the Flowing Cloud Valley, the words he said naturally carried some weight.
He was holding a scroll of pill recipe in his hands while carefully inspecting each of the spiritual herbs on the jade table. The result made him believe even more firmly that the pill that Ning Fan was going to concoct was Void Inquiry Pill!
"The White-Robed Marquis is actually preparing to make a Void Inquiry Pill!? Could it be that he has already achieved the Mid Grade Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm?"
"Didn't Fellow Daoist Qing Yun say that White-Robed Marquis won't have the opportunity to attain the Mid Grade Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm?"
Some old monsters cast a strange look at Qing Yuanzi. Immediately, his old face turned red. He snorted coldly and said, "Even though the medicinal ingredients he is planning to use are meant for concocting a Void Inquiry Pill, it might not necessary prove that he is a Mid Grade Sixth Revolution Pill Master. He certainly won't be able to concoct the pill!"
Just as Qing Yuanzi finished speaking, a few other old monsters said in astonishment.
"T-This… What grade is that flame?!"
"A Fifth Grade Earth Vein Demonic Flame? A Sixth Grade Mortal Void Flame? No. It isn't… It is a Seventh Grade Immortal Void Flame!"
"The White-Robed Marquis' pill refinement flame is actually an immortal void flame?! What is that name? It actually is stronger than common immortal void flames. Why haven't I heard of this kind of black flame before…?"
Qing Yuanzi glanced sideways at the people who spoke. This time, it was the Minute Dust Three Elders from the Minute Dust Sect.
The reason why they were shocked was because Ning Fan had already summoned his black flame and started refining pill in the bronze mirror!
The black flame was the combination of twenty-four types of Heavenly Cold Qi and Earth Flames which made its grade comparable to that of a High Rank Seventh Grade Immortal Void Flame!
"Why is his spiritual flame so powerful…?" Qing Yuanzi was so shocked that he was at a loss for words.
In the illusory realm, Ning Fan had no idea about the dispute that was happening in the outside world. He only started to refine pill with a calm mind.
He summoned his intent realm cauldron and released his black flame. Then, he tossed each of the spiritual herbs into the cauldron to refine them. During the process, he unleashed a strong medicine soul power!
The moment he released his medicine soul power, a mysterious black light glowed around his body, giving him an unworldly aura.
In the next moment, countless black butterflies appeared, filling up the entire illusory realm. Those butterflies were produced by his medicine sol!
Despite being at the other side of bronze mirror, Qing Yuanzi also could deeply feel the intensity of that medicine soul.
Qing Yuanzi's smile froze. He stood there startled.
He stared at Ning Fan who was inside the bronze mirror in disbelief. Even his voice started to tremble.
"I-It's the M-Mid Grade Sixth Revolution medicine soul!"
Moments ago, he firmly said that Ning Fan would not be able to attain the Mid Grade Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm. However, the fact was Ning Fan was already a Mid Grade Sixth Revolution Pill Master now!
"Fellow Daoist Qing Yuanzi's foresight seems a little unconvincing." Some old monsters looked at him with a meaningful smile on their faces.
Immediately, he only felt that he had lost face and was deeply embarrassed.
Facts proved that Ning Fan's temperament was completely suitable to cultivate the Dao of Alchemy while Qing Yuanzi was apparently the one who did not have a suitable state of mind for the Dao of Alchemy…
A Void Inquiry Pill was not easy to concoct. An ordinary Mid Grade Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Master would need to spend at least one year to make a single Void Inquiry Pill.
The quality of Ning Fan's flame was obviously better than a lot of people. At the same time, his medicinal cauldron was produced using an intent realm at the Second Step which allowed him to surpass ordinary old monsters in terms of the speed in pill concoction.
However, despite having all the advantages, the entire process still took him half a month.
It was not his first time concocting a Void Inquiry Pill. Therefore, he was already very used to the making of a Void Inquiry Pill.
Half a month later, Ning Fan patted the lid of the cauldron and took out a Void Inquiry Pill that he had successfully concocted.
At this moment, the expressions of all the old monsters in the temple changed!
It was now evident that Ning Fan not only had attained the Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm but also the middle grade of that level!
His pill refinement techniques had already reached such a terrifying level despite his young age. If he continues his cultivation, it certainly would not be difficult for him to become the next Pill Sovereign in the coming days!
The next Pill Sovereign!
Even the Rain Sovereign was slightly moved. A genius in the Dao of Alchemy like Ning Fan had extremely important to the future of the Rain World.
Ning Fan's innate talent in the Dao of Alchemy was astonishing. If he becomes a Seventh Revolution Pill Master one day, probably the Rain Sovereign would need to ask for some Seventh Revolution Pills from him in order to become an immortal…
"This kid has the Black Devil Sect as his backer, the Indestructible Fire Body and a scary innate talent in the Dao of Alchemy… If he isn't the person who will stop me in attaining the immortal realm, I must draw him over my side. He is someone whom I must never turn against!" The Rain Sovereign's eyes flashed with determination.
Logically, Ning Fan was considered to have passed the Black Stage after successfully making the Void Inquiry Pill. However, both him and the Pill Sovereign had yet to leave the illusory realm.
Inside there, Ning Fan was packing up the remaining spiritual herbs that were not used during the process and sealed that Void Inquiry Pill that he had just concocted into a box. Then, he cupped his fists at the Pill Sovereign courteously and said, "Elder Li, please give me guidance!"
Even though Ning Fan had pride, he was not a self-conceited person.
