Chapter One Hundred Eighteen: Defying Heaven’s Immortal Fate (Second Update)

Jiang Fan did not enter first but stayed at the rear to guard against any sudden attacks from Mo Shaluo and the others.

The moment he stepped into the black hole, a terrifying force descended upon him, involuntarily pulling him downward, as if he had passed through a spatial barrier. Suddenly, his vision expanded.

“Not good!”

Jiang Fan realized he was high above the ground, and in the next moment, an overwhelming pressure bore down on him, forcing him to fall uncontrollably.

Struggling to slow his descent, he saw Lei Chen, Gongsun Wujian, and Jiang Shan hurtling down like cannonballs in three different directions.

One landed in the mountains, another in the forest, while Jiang Shan fell amidst the ruins of a palace.

Meanwhile, Ji Changkong barely steadied himself and descended onto a mountain peak.

“Lei Chen and Gongsun Wujian will suffer some hardship, but Third Brother…” Jiang Fan sighed helplessly, “even if he doesn’t die, he’ll be gravely injured!”

At that moment, his heart leapt violently. He suddenly turned his head and saw a red cloud sweeping from the left, rushing toward him.

“This is the blood-sha energy condensed into a tangible form. It’s not to be trifled with!”

Jiang Fan was shocked. Spinning around, he plummeted rapidly downward.

The blood-sha energy was normally formless and intangible, yet now it had condensed into a red cloud—simply unbelievable.

He dared not provoke it.

From a distant mountaintop, Ji Changkong saw Jiang Fan falling on the opposite side and was about to descend after him. But then his steps faltered as he noticed a broken stone tablet nearby. He moved and struck the air with a palm.

Bang!

The stone tablet shattered, and from within burst a divine light that leveled the mountaintop. Ji Changkong’s face paled with fright, and he dared not move rashly.

“This… this is definitely not something left by mortals!” Ji Changkong immediately realized. “This pressure, the blood-sha condensed red cloud, the forbidden power unleashed after countless years—it could kill me with ease. This is a force beyond that of Earth Immortals!”

“This is trouble. If I had known, it would have been better to fight Mo Shaluo and the others head-on!”

Ji Changkong gritted his teeth and resolutely descended the mountain.

Elsewhere, Jiang Fan fell into a palace ruin.

Most of the palace was dilapidated and crumbling, yet some parts still emitted immortal radiance, a faint remnant of its former glory.

Jiang Fan did not dare to move recklessly.

According to the ancient texts in the Jade Spring Mansion’s Illusionary Realm, some books spoke of secret realms and warned not to act rashly without understanding, lest one suffer unpredictable calamities.

Jiang Fan carefully sensed and examined his surroundings.

His preliminary judgment was that this place might be the remnants of an ancient battlefield. Perhaps back when the Great Hong World was still an immortal realm, this land had been cast into a void interstice, drifting alongside the Great Hong World until now.

But he had inadvertently opened a connecting passage, allowing it to reappear in the mortal world.

“A Small Alchemy Palace?”

Jiang Fan noticed a small palace in the corner.

Though the palace ruins stretched endlessly, displaying a grandeur even in decay, this one was noticeably smaller and in a more secluded spot.

He grabbed a stone with his palm; it was heavy.

“A fist-sized stone weighing over a thousand jin—definitely not a mortal object!”

Thinking this, Jiang Fan lightly shook his palm, splitting the stone, then hurled the pieces forward. No reaction.

He pushed with another palm, unleashing a fierce force that cleared the obstacles ahead.

Above his head, the Earth-Shaking Bell appeared again.

After obtaining this bell, which he had pledged his blood to master, Jiang Fan had done a simple refinement. Though he had yet to unlock all its power, it was sufficient for now.

The bell hovered above, radiating beams of light that shielded him.

Though primarily an offensive weapon, it could also protect its bearer.

Stepping forward, he arrived at the entrance of the Small Alchemy Palace. The door was ajar, and inside lay a thick layer of dust.

With a casual wave, the palace door shattered into dust.

“Time… that is the most fearsome force.”

Jiang Fan murmured and tossed countless small stones inside. No strange energy was triggered, so he cautiously stepped in.

This was the main hall. In the center stood a furnace, pierced through by something unknown, broken and lifeless, nearly rotten now.

Jiang Fan approached and grabbed it, lifting it up. His expression changed.

His current strength was tremendous; his arms wielded millions of jin of force. Though he exerted only a little, the furnace barely trembled.

“An immortal artifact?”

His eyes gleamed as he tried to absorb it into the Purple Mansion but found it impossible.

“What a pity!”

Not dwelling on it, he turned to the study on the left and entered.

Books and jade scrolls lay scattered on the ground. As he entered, the airflow stirred, causing the books to disintegrate into dust; even the jade scrolls began to weather.

The bookshelf, made from some unknown immortal wood, crumbled into fragments.

“Under the passage of time, all things wither!”

Jiang Fan turned and went to the right side—the pill room.

Here, too, everything was rotten and decayed.

He was about to leave with a flick of his sleeve but noticed something beneath the dust—a ring that caught his eye.

Tearing off a strip of cloth, he infused it with magic, stiff as a rod, and tapped the ring. No power was triggered, but the ring shattered instantly.

“Even if this isn’t an immortal weapon, it must be treasure-grade, yet it still couldn’t withstand the ravages of eternal time!”

Jiang Fan sighed, then saw a few jade bottles fall nearby, along with a jade scroll.

“A spatial ring? Once destroyed, the contents might remain in the space interstice, be completely annihilated, or fall into reality. Unexpectedly, there are several possibilities!”

Jiang Fan was delighted.

The jade bottles shimmered with flowing light, clearly untouched by time’s decay.

With a flick of his sleeve, he gathered them and stored them in the Purple Mansion’s space, transporting them back to Jade Spring Mansion.

After further searching revealed nothing useful, he vanished without a trace.

Back at Jade Spring Mansion, seated upon the Enlightenment Platform, he inspected the four jade bottles one by one.

Fortunately, each bottle bore inscriptions and retained immortal aura.

“Body Refining Pill, Treasure Body Pill, Great Treasure Pill, Essence Condensing Pill!”

Simple names, yet Jiang Fan’s heart raced wildly after reading them.

He looked again; each bottle contained three pills, evidently unlike any mundane alchemical medicine.

Setting them down, he opened the jade scroll.

This book, crafted from jade, was easy to preserve. It contained simple records.

Its owner was a Daoist youth serving a ‘Longevity’ alchemist. Unwilling to remain mediocre, he secretly studied alchemy, beginning with mortal pills and seeing initial success.

There were also notes on alchemical insights and various strange phenomena observed during the Longevity alchemist’s pill-making.

Nothing else was recorded.

“This Daoist youth… must have died.”

Jiang Fan closed the jade scroll and shook his head.

He then poured out one Body Refining Pill, noting its nine pill veins. These veins indicated the pill had been refined to the utmost pinnacle for its grade.

Though Jiang Fan could not concoct pills himself, he understood their significance.