Chapter 563 (1/2)
Incomplete.
Vast Cold City is the largest trading city of the Northern Tree Ocean. There were one hundred thousand cultivation stalls set up in that city.
Guang Hanzi was nominally the city lord. Inwardly, however, the city was connected to the vital interests of tens of Void Refinement Realm forces.
Ning Fan killed Du Yu in the Vast Cold City, abducted Guang Hanzi and massacred he entire city. Within just a day, his infamy spread across the whole Northern Tree Ocean!
When 13 old monsters at the Absolute Void Stage and Void Fragmentation Realm arrived at the city, Ning Fan had already left the place, leaving behind an empty city!
Three days later, the Vine Sovereign oft he Western Tree Ocean was informed about Du Yu’s death. He was greatly infuriated and sent out countless experts to hunt Ning Fan down.
Ten days later, everywhere in the Western Tree Ocean and Northern Tree Ocean was filled with the wanted notice of Ning FAn.
“Murderer, Lu Bei, with a cultivation base at the Void Inquiry Stage, killed the Vine Sovereign’s disciple at the Abyss Country of the Northern Tree Ocean. The Vine Sovereign is enraged and wants the entire Tree World to pursue this man! Whoever kills Lu Bei will be rewarded with ten billion immortal jade and ten bottles of Sixth Revolution Pills!”
The Eastern and Southern Tree Oceans, on the other hand, did not give a strict order to hunt Ning Fan down. Probably it was because the tree sovereign of the two areas were on bad terms with the Vine Sovereign.
Above a deserted tree mountain on the Northern Tree Ocean, Ning Fan was holding a wanted poster of himself in his hands. His expression turned cold.
After he had robbed the Vast Cold City, he immediately left that place and flew tens of cultivation countries away to avoid the pursuit of countles sepxerts.
“I didn’t expect that I would be listed as wanted by the Vine Sovereign of the Western Tree Ocean. In this case, there will be some trouble for me to sneak into the Western Tree Ocean…”
The Fire Tree Clan resided in the Western Tree Ocean. It was the place where Ning Fan was prepared to go.
However, the Western Tree Ocean was the Vine Sovereign’s territory as well. As Ning Fan had killed Du Yu and enraged the Vine Sovereign, he probably would be pursued by countless cultivators instantly once he goes to the Western Tree Ocean…
In this case, he could not go to the Western Tree Ocean anymore. At the same time, the Northern Tree Ocean was also full of danger.
From the Vast Cold City, Ning Fan had looted twenty billion immortal jade, countless spiritual herbs, magic treasures and cultivation methods as well as four Void Refinement Realm Dao fruits.
Simultaneously, his actions had offended countless forces in the Northern Tree Ocean. According to his knowledge, there were countless forces in five hundred plus cultivation countries of the Northern Tree Ocean wished to kill him…
“For now, it is unsuitable to go to the Western Tree Ocean. Since I can stay in the Tree World for three years, I don’t need hurry to the Fire Tree Clan. It is also not suitable to stay in the Northern Tree Ocean for long. Now, there are already three Void Fragmentation Realm experts…
Filler Words
“If I make a single step on the Dao Stairs, I’ll lose a day of life, huh…”
Ning Fan was first at first. After that, his face was filled with hesitation. When his eyes scanned across the area, he discovered an ancient silver stone stele at the foot of the mountain. The stele was carved with five letters which were in Divine Seal Writing.
“Each step costs a day!”
Indeed. Just as what he expected, every step that of the Dao Stairs would require one day of life.
“Could it a test about the Heart of Dao…?”
Ning Fan’s eyes turned gloomy and took the second step on the stairs.
After he ascended to the second step of the stairs, his lifespan was shortened by one day again.
He was not frightened by the Dao Stairs that would shorten one’s lifespan. Instead, he stopped ascending the stairs and started pondering.
As he still had twenty thousand years of life, a few days of life were not worth mentioning.
That being so, he continued ascended the stairs. Every step he took would drain away one day of his life.
When he stood at the 365th step of the stairs, he had lost one year of life in total.
When he climbed to the 730th step of the stairs, he had lost two years of life in total.
The higher he ascended, the deeper his eyes looked.
When he arrived at the 3650th step of the stairs, his lifespan was already shortened by ten years.
At the mountain slope beside the Dao Stairs he was standing, there was a second ancient stele that was also carved with five letters.
“Each step costs a year!”
Ning Fan frowned.
Is it possible that every step from now on will no longer reduce my life by one day but by one year instead…?
If every step ahead would shorten one’s lifespan by a year, even Ning Fan would need to think twice before acting
After hesitating for a while, he took a step forward and ascended the 3651th step.
Instantly, one year of his life was drained away!
Ning Fan ignored the amount of life he had lost and took two hundred steps consecutively. When he stood at the 3850th step, his life was reduced by two hundred years.
Then, he saw the third stele standing at the slope beside the staircase. It was also carved with five letters.
“Each step costs ten years!”
Ning Fan wondered inwardly.
Could it be that I have to give up ten years of life for every step I take from now on?
He gazed forward following the trail of the staircase and saw that he would encounter the fourth stele after making two hundred steps. With his vision, he could vaguely see that the stele was also carved with five letters – each step costs one hundred years!
For every two hundred steps ahead, there would still be the fifth stele, the sixth stele, the seventh stele, the eighth stele and so on… However, he was unable to clearly see the details on the steles.
Ning Fan closed his eyes and doubts started to creep into his mind.
Ascending the Dao Stairs of this Earth Stage will actually shorten one’s lifespan. Moreover, the higher I go, the more lifespan I will lose. It’s obviously unwise to continue climbing up the stairs.
Even if Ning Fan possessed twenty thousand years of life, if a single step cost one hundred years or even one thousand years of life, he would die of old age at this stage…
Should I give up? Since this stage reduces one’s lifespan, why not giving up this stage…
However, why will one lose their lifespan by climbing the Dao Stairs…? What exactly is the meaning behind the Rain Ancestor’s intention of setting up this stage…?
Ning Fan closed his eyes and dismissed all the miscellaneous thoughts, empting his mind. His ears could only hear the wind brushing against his face.
His mind became quieter. Gradually, he could not even hear the wind.
Slowly, he sensed a mysterious and enchanting power that was hidden beneath the Dao Mountain.
The power was extremely abstruse and it seemed to possess the Dao Power that could control life and death…
“Life and death…”
Ning Fan raised his head and stared at the endless Dao Stairs and his eyes became deep, as if he could see through everything.
At the first half of the Dao Stairs, every jade stair was surrounded with death qi which could seize one’s life force.
However, starting from the fifth stele, the jade stairs were filled with life qi which could replenish one’s life force.
The reason why the Rain Ancestor set up this stage was naturally not to seize the lifespan of the descendants.
Every step in the first four steles might take away one’s lifespan but every step in the final four steles would return their lifespan.
From life to death and from death to life… By going through this process, a cultivator would be able to comprehend life and death.
This was an opportunity, an opportunity to comprehend life and death, the essence to ascend the heavens and become an immortal!
If one does not have a firm Dao Heart, they would probably give up this stage outright upon discovering that they would lose their lifespan for every step they climb.
Only those who had firm Dao Heart would persist in climbing the stairs. And when they reach the fifth stele, they would regain their lifespan and obtain an opportunity to comprehend life and death.
“One will age gradually for every step that made in the first four steles. Each step will draw them closer to their doom… In this phase, there is the Great Dao of Death.”
Ning Fan moved his fingers to perform hand seals, displaying the Immemorial Fishing Lines.
Strands of black fishing lines revolved around his fingers. At the same time, his eyes also turned pure black eerily. His presence was filled with death qi.
One step, two steps, three steps… Ning Fan continued climbing to the top of the mountain step by step. For every step he made, his lifespan would reduce by ten years.
However, he did not stop his pace, as if he felt nothing about the loss in his lifespan. After making two hundred steps, he arrived at the fourth stele but he had already lost two thousand years of life.
Starting from his current position, every step of stairs would cost him one hundred years of life.
Ning Fan did not have any hesitation and he began climbing the stairs one after another, moving toward the fifth stele.
One step cost him one hundred years of life. Ten steps cost him one thousand years of life. One hundred steps cost him ten thousand years of life…
There were 200 steps of Dao Stairs between the fourth stele and the fifth stele. In other words, one would need to lose twenty thousand years of life.
Usually, everyone who had arrived at this point would probably back off in fear. In Ning Fan’s mind, however, there was no doubt or fear at all!
One step, two steps, three steps… Ning Fan’s lifespan was draining away for every step he made and his appearance started to age.
When a cultivator’s lifespan was about to finish, they would gradually show their age.
As Ning Fan’s life force was draining away rapidly, the death qi around him became thicker and thicker.
From being a young man, his appearance gradually became like a middle-aged man. Then, he continued to age and became an old man who was at his final years of life.
His black hair turned gray. Age spots and wrinkles surfaced on his face while his body started to hunch over, forming a hunchback. Only his eyes, however, were pure black all the time. They looked frighteningly calm.
His flesh also started to wilt while his Sea of Consciousness dried up. His body felt like it was going to reduce to ashes…
Only his Dao Heart, however, was as solid as a rock. It was not wavered by anything at all!
After making two hundred steps, Ning Fan reached the fifth stele. The current him was already on the brink of death.
His eyes, however, looked deeper than before. At this very moment when he was about to die, his feeling about death was particularly profound!
“This is death!”
Ning Fan examined his dantian inwardly. In his dantian, a strand of pure black death qi was gradually forming!
Qi of Death! It was the power that countless rogue immortal s had spent their entire lives cultivating and comprehending! If one wishes to become an immortal, they must first experience life and death!
It was not true that one could gain immortality by becoming an immortal. In fact, only those who live a long life without dying deserved to be called as immortals!
There was only a strand of Qi of Death in Ning Fan’s body. However, it was like a seed that planted the Dao Comprehension of Death in Ning Fan’s heart.
If Ning Fan’s Dao Comprehension of Death increases in the future, this seed would eventually germinate and grow and become his aid in becoming an immortal!
“It isn’t a bad deal by exchanging twenty thousand years of life for this comprehension. However, I still have to get back the lifespan that I’ve lost from this Dao Mountain!”
Ning Fan’s appearance was old and his voice was croaky but his eyes, however, were firm and stubborn. He scanned across the fifth stele. The stele was carved with five words in the Divine Seal Writing.
“One step returns one day”!
Starting from the fifth stele, the Dao Mountain would return the life that a cultivator had lost from the beginning for every step they make!
Ning Fan dismissed the death qi around him and performed a series a hand seals to display the Fishing Net of Creation.
This technique contained the Dao Power of Life. The moment he used this technique, his eyes instantly turned pure white and his presence was filled with a dense power of life force.
One step, two steps, three steps…
Ning Fan climbed all the way up, passing by the sixth, seventh and eighth stele.
One step one day, one step one years, one step ten years, one step one hundred years… The life he had lost in the previous journey was slowly returning to him.
His appearance gradually turned younger. His complexion slowly regained its vitality. His eyes were becoming deeper, just like the ocean.