The drawback of going into his demonized form before completely refining Mo Luo’s blood was not insignificant.
Now, half of his primordial spirit had turned black. If his primordial spirit completely turns black, it would probably bring him a lot of trouble.
Luckily, the foundation of his primordial spirit was solid, relieving him from the influence of the devil qi. The little hands of his primordial spirit formed a series of hand seals and expelled the devil qi within.
It would probably take approximately one month to completely expel all of the devil qi and only then could he go into the demonized state once again.
"When I return to the internal sea this time, it’s better that I don’t go into that state again if it isn’t absolutely necessary. Even though Mo Luo’s devil body is strong, the drawbacks are very serious. Unless I have completely assimilated Mo Luo’s blood, my primordial spirit will suffer some damage every time I go into that state."
"I’m afraid that it will be extremely difficult to completely assimilate Mo Luo’s blood. After all, this drop of blood is the blood of Great Emperor Mo Luo. It contains the power of ’blood’. It can’t be assimilated directly like other magic treasures... If I want to assimilate it, I not only have to pay the Giant Devil Clan a visit but also the Six-Winged Clan, the Mist Horn Clan as well as the Ghost Eye Clan. Only then will I have the chance to find the method to assimilate this blood."
Ning Fan dismissed his thoughts. With the help of the teleportation formation, he left the cloud realm and returned to the lower layer of the Black Lightning Realm.
As soon as he appeared, Hong Yi’s beautiful figure immediately appeared before his eyes. Her cold eyes were obviously filled with discontentment for having to wait for so long.
"I have been waiting for you for seven days before you finally returned. Where are the items? Did you manage to gather seven bamboo leaves?"
"By luck, I managed to accomplish the mission. I gathered slightly more than the amount you needed."
Ning Fan secretly studied Hong Yi and his expression turned slightly grim. With his current combat power, he still felt it was a little difficult to breathe when facing Hong Yi.
Even though she only had a Void Glimpse Stage cultivation base, the sense of danger she gave Ning Fan was far beyond the one King Ying Long gave off. Perhaps it was even greater than that of King Dong Long!
"How dare you still try to probe into my secrets?" Hong Yi’s expression turned even colder. She had warned Ning Fan once before not to check on her anymore but she did not expect that he would actually disregard her warning and do it again.
However, when she heard that Ning Fan had obtained slightly more than 7 dark golden bamboo leaves, she suppressed her coldness. Her mood became a little better and she did not plan to hold Ning Fan responsible for violating her privacy.
"I noticed your baleful qi seems to have grown more concentrated than before. Could it be that you killed all your way up the lightning tower? How many floors did you manage to ascend and how many lightning leaves have you gathered?" Hong Yi felt a bit surprised. Actually, she already had the answers in her mind for the questions she had raised.
"The process is not worth mentioning but the results are rather satisfying. How about you make a guess on how many dark golden bamboo leaves I have obtained?" Ning Fan changed the topic of the conversation and did not brag about the number of undead spirits he had killed.
Killing others was never a joyful matter. However, the journey of seeking the Dao and becoming an immortal was full of twists and turns. On many occasions, there was no other option other than taking the lives of others. Even though Ning Fan was determined in his actions and he killed without hesitation, he was not that uncouth and bloodthirsty that he would brag about himself with the number of lives he had taken.
"You want me to guess?" Hong Yi looked at Ning Fan in a strange manner. When she asked questions, others only had the right to answer her obediently. Ning Fan was the first person who asked her in return and let her guess.
"Are you afraid that you won’t be able to guess correctly?"
"Afraid?" One corner of Hong Yi’s mouth curved into a sarcastic smile. She was never afraid of anything.
She rarely smiled. Even though the smile she currently put on her face had a hint of sarcasm, it appeared rather different because of her natural beauty.
Instead of being frightening, it looked pretty charming.
Ning Fan was slightly stunned. He did not expect that Hong Yi who had a cold personality and a frigid expression would be so mesmerizing when she smiled.
"With your capabilities, it won’t be difficult for you to kill all the way up to the seventh floor if there wasn’t any accident. It’s also highly possible that you managed to travel across the tenth floor without much hindrance... I guess you have reached the tenth floor and obtained ten bamboo leaves." Hong Yi said with a firm tone.
"The total number I got is slightly more than ten."
"You managed to get beyond the eleventh floor?" Hong Yi’s icy cold eyes revealed a hint of astonishment for the first time.
Beyond the eleventh floor, the guardians of the bamboo leaves were Void Inquiry Stage experts.
Hong Yi did not think that Ning Fan was able to resist Void Inquiry Stage old monsters with his thin and feeble body.
"Which floor did you manage to reach, exactly...?"
Hong Yi might not be interested in anything in this world but she had to admit that Ning Fan had successfully piqued her interest.
She took a gentle step and got closer to Ning Fan. Her cold eyes had an oppressive aura. She no longer wanted to continue guessing. She did not have so much patience.
When she stood in front of Ning Fan, she raised her cold and pure appearance and stared coldly at him. There was no hint of emotion on her face.
With such a close distance, Ning Fan could even smell the unique fragrance from her body.
"What if we make a deal? I have obtained a number of dark golden lightning bamboo leaves and I can give you fourteen of them. The remaining will belong to me. However, you have to give me one hundred thousand years old spiritual herbs to harmonize the medicinal power of these leaves."
"You also need dark golden lightning bamboo leaves? Golden lightning bamboo leaves could be used to save a Void Refinement Realm cultivator while dark golden lightning bamboo leaves... I suppose you won’t be using it at the moment, right?" Hong Yi asked thoughtfully.
"You are also just a Void Refinement Realm cultivator, aren’t you? So why do you need these dark golden lightning bamboo leaves which only Void Fragmentation Realm experts could use?" Ning Fan asked her another question in return. He also had some speculations about Hong Yi.
"Fine. It doesn’t matter if you don’t tell me. Did you really get to the fourteenth floor and above?" Hong Yi was somewhat surprised. She did not think that Ning Fan had the capabilities to fight all the way up to the fourteenth floor.
"It’s just luck. So what do you say about this deal?" Ning Fan’s smile became even more indecipherable and Hong Yi found it even more difficult to understand him.
"I don’t need fourteen bamboo leaves. Just twelve will do. You can have all of the remaining leaves... Now, can you tell me how many bamboo leaves you have obtained, can’t you?"
"24 pieces."
"A mere Half-Step Divine Transformation Realm like you can actually kill all the way up to the twenty-fourth floor..." Hong Yi’s eyes which were red like blood flashed with a hint of amazement. Then, she perfectly concealed that expression and remained silent.
She realized that she had underestimated Ning Fan.
With such strength, perhaps Ning Fan would really be able to help her accomplish that mission.
"Your strength surprises me... Let’s go. I will bring you to meet a few people." Hong Yi fell back and distanced herself from Ning Fan. She spoke casually and Ning Fan did not know what she was thinking in her mind.
"Meet who?" Vigilance rose within Ning Fan’s heart. Even though he had a promise with Hong Yi, he had yet to completely trust her.
"The members of the Zhou Clan are right here on this Lightning Bamboo Island. The one hundred thousand years old spiritual herbs are also in their hands. Well, you can choose not to go!"
Hong Yi left ethereally. His eyes glinted and he immediately tailed after her.
If it’s just for saving Yue Lingkong, obtaining the golden lightning bamboo leaves would be enough.
However, in order to save Luo You, he must obtain one hundred thousand years old spiritual herbs to harmonize the medicinal power of the dark golden bamboo leaves.
He had yet to hand over the leaves to Hong Yi. With this bargaining chip in his hands, he was not afraid of the people of the Zhou Clan plotting against him and he was also not worried that Hong Yi would break her promise.
Ning Fan had also noticed that the rare and precious one hundred thousand years old spiritual herbs seemed to be rather insignificant in Hong Yi’s eyes.
"The daughter of the lightning emperor... Such an esteemed identity and such high standards... Even Void Fragmentation Realm old monsters would regard one hundred thousand years old spiritual herbs importantly. But in her eyes, those spiritual herbs seem to have no value."
"With the Heaven Deceiving Cloak and the stored attack in my Stele of Sun and Moon, it’s not risky to travel within the internal sea. Even if this woman is plotting something against me by leading me to the cultivators of the Zhou Clan, I am also not afraid."
"Besides, judging from her motives, it seems like she still wants to rope me into the Zhou Clan. Previously, even though she said that she was impressed by my Wind Mist Finger, she did not treat me in this manner. Apparently, it’s the boost in my combat power which made her change her attitude towards me. In this world, in order to make others respect you, you will need to change yourself first no matter what. There’s still a lot of time before I can break through to the Void Refinement Realm. However, breaking through to the Golden Body Realm is far easier than attaining the Void Refinement Realm. With the power of the ’blood’, my potential in body refinement techniques is one hundred times better than ordinary cultivators. As long as I can improve the grade of my devil marks and make them attain the Marshal Rank, I can definitely break through to the Golden Body Realm. When that time comes, even though my cultivation base has yet to attain the Void Refinement Realm, there is certainly no Void Refinement Realm old monsters who would dare to underestimate me..."
Ning Fan clenched his fists tightly and his eyes shone with confidence. Now, he was not far away from attaining the Golden Body Realm!
Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel
Chinese 巨魔, literally means giant devil