Chapter 553 - : Exchange for The Blood Sword (2/2)
“Not enough!” Ning Fan said indifferently with a neutral expression.
Chu Chang An secretly praised Ning Fan within his mind. If ordinary Void Refinement Realm cultivators see such an amount of immortal jade, they more or less would be dumbstruck. For Ning Fan, however, he did not even flinch at all. If it wasn’t because he was adept in scheming, it would then be because he was already used to big scenes and would not be shocked by such an amount of immortal jade.
“This young friend, be patient. There is still the second item!”
Chu Chang An sent another storage pouch to Ning Fan. He grabbed and checked it. The items within the pouch were actually ten bottles of Imaginary Sea Pill.
One bottle contained ten pills and there were one hundred pills in that pouch.
Imaginary Sea Pill was a Mid Grade Sixth Revolution Pill. A single pill could give a Void Inquiry Stage expert five thousand units of magic power… Those pills were extremely precious.
If Ning Fan takes every last one of the Imaginary Sea Pills in the ten bottles, his magic power would shoot up by five hundred thousand units!
Even with Ning Fan’s shrewdness, his eyelids could not help but twitch slightly. However, he dismissed that astonishment in his face at the next moment and said with a flat tone.
“Not enough!”
Chu Chang An chuckled dryly. He knew that Ning Fan was not someone who could be satisfied easily.
Luckily, he still had the third item to give him. And Chu Chang An was very confident that the final item could convince Ning Fan.
“Fine… Originally, I was reluctant to take this item out because it’s worth is slightly above that of the heavenly blood dragon bones… However, it is useless to me. Instead of letting it stay idly in the storehouse, it’s better to use it to make a fair trade with you…”
Chu Chang An sighed and sent out a third storage pouch to Ning fan.
As soon as Ning Fan grabbed the storage pouch, he could already sense a massive amount of lightning power from it even before opening it to check what was inside. Furthermore, he even felt that the storage pouch was pounding like a living heart…
When he opened the pouch and took a single glance at the item inside, he immediately took a deep breath and said, “This is enough…”
Ning Fan kept all of the three pouches and sent the blood sword to Chu Chang An with a flick. Inwardly, he was still finding it difficult to believe that Chu Chang An actually could get this item to trade with him.
Using it to exchange for the blood sword was more than enough!
Chu Chang An held the Blood Dragon Demon Sword. His eyes were also burning with zeal.
With a gulp, he stroked the body of the blood sword with his trembling hands.
His cultivation base was now at the Second Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm. However, with this sword in his possession, he had high chances in attaining the Third Heavenly Layer in his current lifetime!
It was really a satisfying trade for both sides with each of them getting what they needed!
“The trade is done. Elder Chu, let’s begin the test. However, before that, please take off the concealment of this blood-red handkerchief. I really want to let the spies to see clearly that I am not the enemy they are looking for.” Ning Fan said with a meaningful tone.
“Alright. I’ll now take off the handkerchief and initiate the test of the Heaven Stage for you!” Chu Chang An was currently beaming from ear to ear after obtaining the item that he had been longing for day and night.
He took back the blood-red handkerchief with a wave of his hand and took out a golden token. Then, he muttered a chant at it.
In the next moment, the sea of shen clouds immediately roiled, starting to transform into various kinds of illusions.
As for Chu Chang An’s body, he was gradually vanishing amidst the sea of clouds and became no longer visible.
Only his voice was still reverberated in the sea of clouds.
“The first stage of the Four Stages of Heaven and Earth is the Heaven Stage. It will test a cultivator’s Dao Comprehension regarding the void. If one passes this stage, not only will they be rewarded with a lot of merit points but also have the opportunity to obtain a reward for passing the stage…”
Standing among the layers of illusions, Ning Fan patted his storage pouch and took out the palace lord token of the Scarlet Heaven Palace.
Several cloud patterns were drawn on the front part of the token and there were some words on the upper part which recorded the Scarlet Heaven Palace Lord’s merit points.
The former Scarlet Heaven Palace Lord, Mo Xiu, died in Ning Fan’s hands. When he was still alive, he had accumulated 120 million points. Now, all of them belong to Ning Fan.
The points could be used to exchange for treasures at the main palace of the Rain Palace and they were probably equivalent to 120 million immortal jade…
“I wonder how many merit points and what reward I will get if I pass this Heaven Stage…”
“What the first stage, Heaven Stage, tests is… one’s comprehension of the void!”
As Ning Fan was pondering, the illusory realm around him slowly turned real and the noise of a bustling city went into his ears.
He was standing in a small city surrounded by an ocean of bamboo. Everywhere in the city was filled with the aroma of liquor.
The men in the city wore high hats and broad girdles. Their attire was just like that of the ancient scholars. Each of them gave off fumes of wine. In a drunken state, they staggered on the streets aimlessly.
As for the ladies in the city, they all were dressed up gorgeously with heavy makeup. The smell of the cosmetic powder they wore was slightly repulsive.
The air was permeated with a thick liquor smell. The longer Ning Fan stayed at this place, the more liquor smell he would inhale. The smell would then slowly make his consciousness slip away.
Fortunately, he had already understood the true meaning of liquor. Even if one’s body is heavily intoxicated, as long as their hearts are not drunk, they will never be intoxicated.
As he released his magic power to protect his heart, his eyes gradually turned bright and clear.
He then raised his head to gaze into the sky, looking as if he was deep in thought. The sun, the moon and the stars were coexisting in the sky, making it difficult for one to discern whether it was day or night… Thus, it looked quite bizarre…
Ning Fan walked across the streets in the bamboo city. All the men and women he saw along his way were in a drunken stupor.
Accompanied by the music produced by reed-pipe wind instruments, he walked past each of the liquor stores, house of courtesans and the riverbanks that were full of gaily-painted pleasure boats.
Everyone was indulging in pleasure and none was in a conscious state.
“What is the meaning of this stage?”
While slowly walking alone, Ning Fan was deep in thought. All of a sudden, he stopped by a liquor store outside the bamboo forest.
All the customers in the store were in a drunken state. Even the shopkeeper was intoxicated. Only a young man in black robes was drinking liquor all alone with a cold expression. He did not show any sign of being drunk.
He was not particularly handsome. His appearance was rather common. He wore a faint silver earring on his right ear. His presence gave off an inexplicable disposition that was as unfathomable as flowing clouds.
This man did not reveal the slightest hint of magic power qi. He seemed like a mortal. However, when Ning Fan approached the liquor store, he gently raised his head and glanced at Ning Fan casually. With just a single look, he seemed to have seen through all his secrets!
“Another person who has come to face the test, huh…”
The man in black robes held up his liquor jug and took a swig of it. Then, he muttered to himself without looking at Ning Fan.
“The world is an inn of all creatures while time is a passing traveler of endless generations. The floating life is like a dream and how brief the enjoyment is? Indeed, it was with good reason that the ancients made nocturnal excursions by holding candle lights. It should be indeed more so with us now that the sunny spring invites me with vapory scenes while the great earth provides me with such a beautiful picture. Here we gather in the beautiful garden of peach and plum and enjoy fraternal love. All my younger brothers are men of refinement and elegance like Hui Lian1. But when I recite poems, I myself feel ashamed to be compared with Kang Le2. Before silent appreciation comes to an end, our lofty chat turns to pure talk. The banquet is served amid flowers and the flight of the winged goblet makes us drunk under the moon. Without fine poems, how can our refined taste be satisfied? If anyone fails to produce a poem, let him be punished by making him drink several cups of wine as forfeit…”
Ning Fan’s eyes scanned past the man in black robes and only felt that he was mysterious and unfathomable.
Perhaps this man is the key to passing the first stage…
When Ning Fan was thinking, that man in black robes suddenly raised his head and stared at Ning Fan with a cold smirk.
“What is void?!”
Out of the blue, a wave of overwhelming rain force surrounded the entire illusory realm! Heavy rain began pouring down outside the liquor store!
The rain force also pressed against Ning Fan’s body. Ning Fan was never afraid of any cultivator’s aura force. However, when he was suppressed by this man’s aura force, he actually felt like he was as insignificant as an ant that was pressing down by a mountain!
“Who is this man?!” Ning Fan was surprised inwardly.
…
In the Temple of Rain, Revered Sage’s expression gradually recovered and he passed a message to Rain Sovereign using telepathy.
“That Chu Chang is still sensible as he has already taken off the blood-red handkerchief. Now, I can continue observing the Heaven Stage.”
“Humph! Consider him still having some sense!” The Rain Sovereign was sneering inwardly but his expression did not reveal the slightest trace of his emotion.
Within the temple, many old monsters were whispering among themselves.
“The first stage is Heaven Stage and it tests a cultivator on their comprehension on the void… In order to pass the stage, one will at least need to have the Void Pierce Stage comprehension… White-Robed Marquis’ cultivation base is just at the Void Inquiry Stage. I’m afraid he won’t be able to find the ‘void exit’ and it’ll be difficult for him to get through this stage.”
“However, even if he fails this stage, the benefits he will obtain aren’t small as well. There is the shadow of that man staying in this stage… If he can find him and have a conversation with him, it’ll also be considered as a great opportunity…”
“Stop joking. Even when Void Pierce Stage old monsters enter the illusory realm, most of them will be affected by the liquor qi which cause them to lose their consciousness and eventually fail. There might be some old monsters at the Void Pierce Stage and Absolute Void Stage getting through this stage successfully. However, all of them barely managed to discover the void exit in that illusory realm right before they were completely intoxicated and escaped that place… Who will have time to look for that person?”
“Besides, so what if White-Robed Marquis is able to locate that person? Ordinary people can’t endure that person’s rain intent at all! An Absolute Void Stage expert who had converted his unital magic power to yuan once wanted to try out this stage. After expending great effort to look for that person in the illusory realm, he finally found him. However, he was directly sent out of the illusory realm by that person’s rain intent and failed the test…”
“*Sigh* I wonder if White-Robed Marquis is able to get through this stage with success…”