Chapter Ninety-Four: Taking Stock of the Spoils

It may have been because Nangong Rou’s cultivation was far inferior to Elder Yu’s; the memories left behind were scant, and there was little of any use in them.

Before long, those memories had entirely faded.

“What a pity, to lose such a living chronicle!”

Jiang Fan sighed.

When he opened his eyes, Nangong Rou was already lying on the ground without a trace of life. Shaking his head, he walked deeper inside and found a mansion tablet, the core that controlled the estate.

Now that its master was gone, he dripped blood upon it to claim it, refining it with ease.

“A top-grade treasure!”

Jiang Fan also learned its rank.

Above magical implements were treasures, and a top-grade treasure of this kind would be among the finest objects in the Great Hong World. Yet clearly, this was only the residence Nangong Rou had once refined, named the Imperial Daughter Palace.

“Imperial Daughter Palace? Then from now on, it shall be called Mortal Dust Villa.”

Jiang Fan came to the vault and found that its contents were already few and far between.

“Were they all ruined in the battle with the Human Emperor back then, leaving only these? Or has she not yet recovered the rest of the treasures?”

Jiang Fan could not know.

There were only three ten-thousand-year purple-gold ginseng roots here. These had truly grown for ten thousand years, and they were far beyond what the so-called ten-thousand-year willow heart of another world could compare to.

“Still not bad!”

Jiang Fan opened the jade box, picked up one to inspect it, and immediately felt the surging tide of life within it, vast as the sea. His heart stirred with delight, and he carefully put it away.

Returning to the great hall, he came to Nangong Rou’s body and noticed something beneath her hair. His expression shifted.

“A device refined into the body will usually be destroyed when its master dies, or fall into a spatial crevice, or be expelled.”

He picked it up and saw that it was a page of pitch-black paper, with no writing upon it.

He tried tearing it, but could not. He tried cutting it, but it would not break.

“What is this?”

A strange fluctuation emanated from it, as though it sought to drag his soul away. Jiang Fan was certain this object was anything but ordinary, and he immediately stored it in the Jade Spring Manor.

After another search, he found that beneath the skirt there was still a book flowing with purple radiance. He picked it up and saw four words on the cover: Purple Firmament Thunder Eye.

“Purple Firmament Thunder Eye? Is this the cultivation method for her Purple Light Eye?”

He did not read it at once, but put it away first.

Continuing his search, apart from the treasure pouch there was nothing else. As for the pouch, it contained only a few magical implements; the rest were ordinary items.

“She must still have some supreme protective treasure. It probably fell into a spatial crevice when she died, or simply shattered and vanished!”

Jiang Fan narrowed his eyes, his mind turning.

“This is going to be troublesome.”

With a soft sigh, he left the estate. With a wave of his hand, the Mortal Dust Villa shrank abruptly, becoming a streak of flowing light that landed in his palm.

Rumble!

The next moment, the river surged backward, erupting with thunderous noise.

Jiang Fan burst out of the water and looked up. The moon had already drifted westward, and dawn was not far from the fifth watch.

“Hm?”

Turning his gaze, he saw a streak of light racing toward him from afar, arriving before long.

“So it is a human cultivator?” The middle-aged man looked at Jiang Fan, murder flashing in his eyes. “Have you seen Bus Ya?”

“Octopus?”

“Yes!”

“Then die!”

Jiang Fan struck without hesitation.

Having confirmed the other was of the demon race, that was enough. As for the purpose of seeking the octopus, he need not know.

The Returning-One Sword flew from his body, blossomed in midair, and actually split into nine, becoming nine flying swords in an instant.

Nine returning to one. The Returning-One Sword took its name from this very principle.

It had once been nine lower-grade magical swords. Combined into one, they became mid-grade.

Sword light revolved, and in an instant formed the Nine Palace Sword Formation.

“You mere novice cultivator dare lay hands on me, Eight Bright Prosperity? You seek death!”

The other flew into a rage, slashing with a palm from the air. It only made the sword curtain tremble; it did not damage it in the slightest.

“A sword formation?”

Eight Bright Prosperity’s pupils constricted. Eight tentacles immediately appeared on his back, revealing his true form. With a lash through the air, the void boomed, yet he was still blocked by the sword curtain.

“The moment my sword formation formed, your fate was sealed. A primordial spirit expert? You are the first to die by my hand!” Jiang Fan said, then roared, “Death Sword Will, Slaughter Sword Will, Wind Sword Will, Weighty Sword Will, Fine Rain Sword Will, Pure Yang Sword Will, Magnanimous Sword Will, Unbending Sword Will, Void Sword Will, Nine Elements Return to Truth, kill!”

During these days, Jiang Fan had never wasted a moment. Most of his time was spent in secluded cultivation within the Jade Spring Manor, comprehending sword intent. These were the nine kinds he had currently grasped, and he had fused them into the sword formation of the Lifeless Sword Canon.

Though he had practiced it many times within the Jade Spring Manor, this was his first battle against an enemy outside.

The nine magical swords shuddered and rang together, each rippling with a different flavor and releasing a distinct power.

“Nine kinds of sword intent, how is that possible?”

Eight Bright Prosperity cried out in horror.

Divine light burst from between his brows, spitting forth wave after wave of force to form a protective barrier, yet under the grinding of the nine sword lights, they shattered one after another.

He could not resist at all!

His body exploded, tentacles shattered.

In the end, only his head remained, and even that was pierced by the Death Sword Will, obliterating his sea of consciousness and destroying his will.

“The power of a sword formation really is terrifying.”

Jiang Fan marveled, though his face had gone pale and his aura was weak. Activating the sword formation consumed far too much; he quickly swallowed a great quantity of spirit liquid, and with a gesture drew the head over, storing it in the treasure pouch.

After a moment’s thought, Nangong Rou’s body appeared in his hands. From her treasure pouch he took out a magical sword and a ribbon-grade magical implement. Using every means, he destroyed them and scattered the fragments about, only then stepping through the air and leaving.

The Inspection Hall branch.

“What? You encountered the great demon Eight Bright Prosperity and perished together with him?” Chang Yuan looked at the head of Eight Bright Prosperity and Nangong Rou’s body, his face extremely grim. “Those damned water demons, to dare appear so brazenly around the county city and massacre our human talents. Truly deserving death! I will report this and launch another purge, so they pay for blood with blood!”

“I will take my cousin’s body home, then send it on to the provincial city!” Jiang Fan said, his eyes bloodshot and brimming with tears. After confirming her identity, he received the token and carried the body outside.

As for the third task? With Eight Bright Prosperity’s head in hand, did it still matter?

“Damned water demons!”

Chang Yuan clenched both fists, took out his own token, and began transmitting the news.

The Jiang residence.

“What? Rou’er is dead?” Nangong Yue froze and plopped down onto the floor.

“Tell it in full detail,” Jiang Zheng’an said.

Jiang Fan, dejected, recounted the story once more.

“You encountered a primordial spirit great demon, activated a secret art, and perished together?” After listening, Jiang Zheng’an let out a long sigh. “Alas, when one meets a primordial spirit great demon, there is nothing anyone can do. But how am I to explain this to your maternal grandfather?”

“Father, tell Grandfather that I will personally slay more than a hundred great demons to bury my cousin with me!” Jiang Fan said forcefully. “Let his old man see that my fame will surely be built upon the bones of great demons!”

“Good son!”

Jiang Zheng’an patted his shoulder.

“Xiaofan, if you have the ability, then kill them. From now on, Mother will never stop you again!” Nangong Yue sobbed. “Those damned fiends first slaughtered the city and destroyed our Jiang family, and now they have killed my niece from my natal family. Sob, sob... those damned fiends, I will never share the same sky with them!”

“Mother, don’t worry!” Jiang Fan sniffled.

Back at East Peace Pavilion, Jiang Fan lay down on the bed.

“So tiring.”

With a low murmur, his figure vanished and he entered the Jade Spring Manor, where he sat cross-legged on the Enlightenment Platform.

He took out that page of black paper and turned it over and over, finding nothing unusual. Dripping blood upon it to claim it was useless, he tossed it aside.

Jiang Fan took up the Purple Firmament Thunder Eye book. He discovered that this book was itself a strange treasure. Though it had no special function, it was extraordinarily tough.

After opening it, he found the outline.

“Purple Firmament Thunder Eye has three stages!”

“The first stage, Purple Light Eye!”

“The second stage, Purple Thunder Eye!”

“The third stage, Purple Firmament Thunder Eye!”

The later pages recorded only the cultivation methods for the first two divine eyes. As for the third-stage Purple Firmament Thunder Eye, there was no record of it. Yet behind this, there was a small line of writing: The Emperor once said that the Purple Firmament Thunder Eye stands above all heavens. It is the foremost divine eye between heaven and earth. Only those with a special fate may cultivate it; to cultivate it is to die. Regrettably, this is an innate eye bestowed by the Emperor, and it cannot be observed.

“Created by the Purple Star Emperor?”

Jiang Fan’s heart jolted. He began to study the cultivation method for the Purple Light Eye. By the end, he could only shake his head helplessly.

“To cultivate it successfully is hard, hard, hard!”

He set it aside for the moment and continued to ponder the artistic conception.

In the Illusory-Real World, he had also fought in the mountain ridges west of the stone courtyard, yet he had still not found a mid-grade spirit spring. On several deep incursions, he was blasted to death by the great demons within.

Time flowed on. Nangong Yue personally escorted Nangong Rou’s coffin to the provincial city, and Jiang Fan also had his mother take the mid-grade magical implements and other items obtained from slaying Eight Bright Prosperity’s demon body.

He too was quietly transforming.

Every day, Jiang Fan’s aura grew a little deeper.

Once, he had not fully restrained it, and even Jiang Zheng’an could not approach him.

“Qing, Qian, I am going into seclusion to cultivate! Remember, do not let anyone enter my room. Not even you two!”

That day, after giving his instructions, Jiang Fan entered the Jade Spring Manor and lay upon the Enlightenment Platform. Yet his consciousness had already traversed afar, returning to the Devouring World.