Free Web NovelChapter 1244: Chapter 1244: A Call of "Master" Like a Stranger
Ziwei Beiji Palace, The Ninth Palace, Partridge Tail Palace.
The Partridge Tail Palace once served as the medicine warehouse for the Purple Rose Celestial Emperor. Over the years, many expensive pills here have developed spirit awareness and turned into demon pill. If Ximu Palace is the home to small demon spirits, then this Partridge Tail Palace is the paradise for demon pills.
At this moment, a woman in a purple dress carrying a flower basket was walking along the edge of the Partridge Tail Palace’s formation array. This woman was none other than the queen of the Fengnu Clan, in search of medicine to refine the Northern Sea True Lord to death.
All around the array, a dense white mist pervaded, even the Immortal Emperor could not penetrate it.
The woman in purple, despite being at Immortal King Realm, could only see within ten zhang, anything further was unclear.
Anyone wishing to enter the Partridge Tail Palace must traverse this formation. The woman in purple had visited this place multiple times and had considerable understanding of this formation. Crossing it was not difficult, but she didn’t intend to do so; she wandered within the array, searching for something.
This search lasted for four days. Finally, the woman in purple found a place shrouded in toxic mist. Deep within the mist, a large patch of half-human high decomposing grass grew, covered in dark green moths, thriving off decay.
"The mouthparts of this moth contain three toxic fangs; it must be the Three-toothed Moth... The scales of the Three-toothed Moth can catalyze the Soul Transforming Leaf. If my prediction is correct, walking forward ten or so li, I should find the Soul Transforming Leaf deep within the decomposing grass."
Soul Transforming Leaf, Saint Extermination Grass, Dao-Sealing Spirit Spring. As long as she finds these three items, she is completely confident to refine the Northern Sea True Lord into an expensive pill, avenging the past blood feud!
Thinking of this, the woman in purple had a bit of pleasure in her eyes, but more sadness. She recalled her father and mother, recalled the times she spent joyfully at their knees in her youth, and the past that she could never return to.
She remembered whenever the Dragon Coral blossomed white flowers, her father would set aside his affairs, abandon the dignity of a royal, transform into a crowned Woman Fish, and carry her on his back, swimming through the sea with a face full of pride. That joy was like wanting to proudly show the world his daughter, who seemed ordinary.
So all along the way, the sea tribes would ask: Sea Minister Great King, why do you, a dignified demon king, willingly degrade yourself to be a mount for a young girl?
Whenever this happened, her father would angrily reply: What young girl! This is my daughter Ayao, the one and only Ayao in heaven and earth! I can dote on her as I wish, none of your business!
...
She remembered how lazy and greedy she was as a child, afraid of hardship. Every time she practiced Demon Art, she would complain of backaches; whenever she trained Demon Techniques, she would say her legs hurt. Each time the royal teacher gave her lessons, she would find opportunities to skip, making the teacher fume with rage, searching everywhere for her. She would hide in her mother’s palace, coaxing her mother to make pastries for her.
At these times, her mother would affectionately flick her forehead, teasing: Ayao is lazy at cultivation, in the future your cultivation will surely be low, yet you’re so delicate and greedy, I wonder which husband will want you. If you want to eat the pastries mother makes, you must practice properly; after one hour, mother will make your favorite Goldfish Cake, after two hours, mother will make River God Zongzi...
...
She remembered, as a fish demon of the Fengnu Clan, she was unable to transform into fish form because her demon soul was lacking. Twelve times clan grand sacrifices, twelve times blood awaken failed. As a Woman Fish, she couldn’t condense Woman Fish blood. At that time, she became the laughingstock of the Northern Boundary River, losing all trust from her clan, lost all friends, recognition, completely at a loss.
The clan elders, who treated her kindly before, suddenly changed their attitudes, clamoring to expel her from the clan, to exile her. A person who cannot awaken Woman Fish demon blood has no right to stay in the clan, even less to inherit the vast Fengnu Clan, merely a clan disgrace!
To pressure her father and mother, the clan elders even brought in the Minor Director of Rain to adjudicate the matter. With one order from Minor Director of Rain, her expulsion from the clan became a foregone conclusion. Thus, her proud father and mother finally abandoned all dignity, kneeling before Minor Director of Rain: Our daughter Ayao is not worthless!
She merely suffered too much soul injury in a past life, leading to her demon soul being incomplete in this life!
Please, Minor Director of Rain, rescind your order, give our daughter a chance!
...
The woman in purple painfully closed her eyes, never forgetting that scene of her parents bending for her. Since then, she changed her lazy habits, training desperately, truly growing up.
Later, the North Sea Old Thief invaded the Fengnu Clan.
Later, the elders who rejected her died, and her doting father and mother also died...
The thoughts of the woman in purple became increasingly chaotic, she slowly closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her expression was terrifyingly stubborn.
"Father, mother... your daughter is unfilial, even today, unable to awaken Woman Fish demon blood, a life of mediocrity, despite all efforts, only barely reaching Immortal King Realm, just sufficient to lead the clan. Your daughter has achieved nothing in this life, but only one thing must be accomplished..."
The woman in purple walked step by step toward the toxic mist, towards the place overgrown with decomposing grass. As soon as she approached, the Three-toothed Moths attached to the grass flew up in swarms and attacked her.
These Three-toothed Moths were insignificant individually, but if there were hundreds or thousands, even a Five Tribulations Immortal King would evade temporarily, not to mention her at the Four Tribulations Immortal King level.
But she refused to retreat, because the Soul Transforming Grass she sought was just ahead.
She presented the flower basket in her hand, battling against the overwhelming swarms of Three-toothed Moths. She used the flower basket cautiously and carefully, even preferring to endure several toxic fangs herself rather than let the basket be damaged, only because the basket was the only relic left to her by her mother.
Half an hour later, she finally exterminated the Three-toothed Moths at this location, yet her body bore dozens of wounds from the toxic fangs. At this moment, her face was marked by black traces, evidence that the moths’ deadly poison ravaged her body.
Taking out an expensive pill casually and consuming it, temporarily suppressing the poison within, the woman in purple continued to walk towards the deeper part of the decomposing grass.
This time, no Three-toothed Moths blocked her path, and she finally found the Soul Transforming Grass in the midst of the decomposing grass.
"The first key ingredient has been found... Now that it’s so, there’s no point staying here any longer, time to move on to the next place..."
The woman in purple showed a happy smile, unknowingly watched by more than ten spirit senses lurking in the dark.
These were the Dan Demons of the Partridge Tail Palace, covertly releasing their spirit senses!
This place imposed significant restrictions on outsiders but hardly any on the local demons, as long as the local demons had cultivated strong enough, they could freely release their spirit sense. Thus, the Dan Demons here had long detected the arrival of the woman in purple.
"Heh heh heh, such a delicious scent, it’s blood prey from outside! We can eat!"
"Is she a Four Calamity Immortal King? Before making this woman our meal, using her as a Cauldron Furnace seems quite nice!"
"I remember this woman, she’s from the Fengnu Clan, seems to be named Ji... something Fu... something Yao. This woman carries the Ziwei Lord Hand Order, attacking her seems improper..."
"Hmmph! The Ziwei Lord has long passed away, we are all lordless demons, having nothing to do with those Ziwei Immortal Cultivators anymore, eating her, what would it matter!"
"She can’t be eaten, can’t be eaten, there’s something quite strange about her..."
"Indeed, indeed, this woman has come several times, I’ve pursued her several times but every time returned fruitless."
"Is there actually such a strange thing?"
"I estimate this woman has heavy treasures protecting inside her body, heard even the Star Demons from Star Era Palace eyed her, only to bite away half of her Demon Soul, and no matter what couldn’t bite the rest, strange yet not strange..."
"Heh heh, the stranger the better! The stranger it is, the stronger the heavy treasure on her, all the more reason to kill her for the value!"
"Right, right! Then let’s pursue and attack her again!"
All the Dan Demons spoke one after another, looking at the woman in purple as if seeing meat on a chopping board.
And then, more than ten beams of demonic light soared to the sky, chasing towards the woman in purple.
...
"Damn it! Sure enough, still got discovered by this bunch of Dan Demons!"
The woman in purple’s delicate face turned frosty, it wasn’t her first time coming to Ziwei Beiji Palace, nor the first dealing with the local demons here.
Among the demons of the Twelve Palaces, excluding a few which didn’t trouble her, the others hunted her relentlessly as soon as they saw her.
Indeed, to these demons, she as an outsider demoness was nothing but delicious blood prey, merely a target of hunt.
As per her usual style, once locked on by palace demons, she’d definitely teleport out of the North Pole Palace. But this time was different, she needed to find three medicinal ingredients here, yet had only found the Soul Transforming Leaf, still missing two.
If she left now, even possessing the palace gate key—Ziwei Hand Order, she’d have to wait forty-nine years to enter again.
Forty-nine years, she couldn’t afford to wait! To refine-kill the North Sea Old Thief, only in this brief period, her one chance! Without finding all three key ingredients, she would not leave!
"This is the Ninth Palace, connected with the Eighth Palace Partridge Fire and the Tenth Palace Longevity Star. The Cauldron Demons in Partridge Fire Palace aren’t kind folk either, fleeing that way may be even harder to escape. So, I’ll go to Longevity Star Palace for temporary refuge. The Peach Demon holds the old ties, may show some regard to the Ziwei Immortal Cultivators’ friendship, possibly willing to let me hide for a while..."
The woman in purple almost instantly made her decision, fleeing towards Longevity Star Palace. Her speed wasn’t slow, but the Dan Demons chased even faster, she barely reached the peach grove outside Longevity Star Palace when the Dan Demons blocked her way!
"Interesting, interesting! Aren’t you Ji Fuyao rumored to fear death greedy for life? How come this time being chased, you’re not teleporting outside North Pole Palace."
A Nine-eyed Dan Demon laughed heartily, waving his demonic palm, an imprint of Heaven-Concealing Palm Imprint descended!
This Nine-eyed Dan Demon might only be a Second Calamity Immortal Lord, yet the power of his strike wasn’t much weaker than the late-stage Four Calamity Immortal King, his strength rivaling Ancient Immortal Lords!
The woman in purple instinctively wanted to summon a flower basket in defense, but hesitated at the moment of lifting her hand, ultimately choosing to point with nimble fingers, releasing thousands of water lights to block the unparalleled demonic palm.
Boom!
The Nine-eyed Dan Demon’s palm imprint got shattered by the water light, seeing this, the originally laughing Nine-eyed Dan Demon had his face sank with an unsightly expression.
The woman in purple didn’t fare well either, barely blocking the Nine-eyed Dan Demon’s palm, but still carrying the poison and injuries left by the Three-toothed Moth, injuries pressed down temporarily by pills, yet now once using mana, showed signs of recurrence, causing her to spit out a Blood Arrow on the spot.
It was black blood! The blood still contained the remaining poison of the Three-toothed Moth!
"Ha ha ha! Old Ninth can’t even handle a wounded woman, embarrassing, embarrassing! Perhaps the Demon Seed bestowed by Demon-Sealing Peak hasn’t been completely refined? Or Old Ninth cherishing beauty held back on this strike? Haha!" The other Dan Demons saw the Nine-eyed Dan Demon’s failed strike, all mocking.
Upon hearing this, the Nine-eyed Pill Demon was instantly furious and embarrassed, raising its demon hand and intending to attack the purple-clad woman again to restore its dignity.
But someone else was faster!
This time, the attacker was a chubby Pill Demon with ivory tusks and holding a golden mace in each hand. Although this demon was merely a Triple Calamity Immortal King in cultivation, the power of the great mace when it struck down had the killing force of an Immortal King Peak. Seeing this demon charging fiercely, the purple-clad woman had no choice but to grit her teeth and summon a floral basket for defense; however, she was still unable to fully dispel the force of the opponent’s mace, and her entire body was blasted away by its residual impact.
Having succeeded with one blow, the Ivory Dan Demon excitedly yelled out, "Comfortable, comfortable! Oppressing the weak is truly delightful! Greed for Life Senior did not deceive me! The fearful gaze of the weak before their death is truly amusing!"
After the Ivory Dan Demon finished its bizarre yelling, it noticed that no one was paying attention to it, immediately feeling awkwardly embarrassed. With a sullen expression, it intended to charge forward again to deliver more strikes to the purple-clad woman.
Unfortunately, while it was yelling, other Pill Demons had already rushed forward to attack the purple-clad woman. Surrounded by over a dozen Ancient Lords and Ancient Kings, the purple-clad woman couldn’t even manage to defend herself; she kept dodging and retreating, yet was repeatedly blasted away and struck down, blood spilling continuously.
Her vitality grew weaker, her consciousness blurred for a moment, common sense and fragility telling her that if she didn’t activate the Ziwei Lord Hand Order and teleport out of here, she would truly be unable to escape.
But she was unwilling!
In her life, she had failed too many times, given up too much, but this time, she would not give up!
She must grind Beihai True Lord’s bones to dust, no matter the cost!
"Explode!"
The purple-clad woman uttered one word, and at that moment, her consciousness was enveloped in blood-red, and then her physical defense exploded with a boom!
Self-destructing her physical defense!
Facing the siege of over a dozen Pill Demons, this woman would rather self-destruct her physical defense in a desperate bid to escape than flee to the outside world, demonstrating the depth of her obsession with revenge.
The self-destruction of an Immortal King was terrifying; although there were many Pill Demons besieging her, facing such powerful self-destruction, they were all frightened, retreating without saying a word and cursing as they did!
"Wretched woman! She would rather self-destruct her physical defense than leave us any flesh to feed on! What a miser!"
"Crazy, crazy! This woman is clearly a lunatic!"
"Damn it! I was too slow to dodge and got my arm blown off by this crazy woman!"
"Lost an ear, truly unlucky!"
"Damn it! The magical treasure I’ve refined for several thousand years was damaged by this woman!"
"I’ll skin this crazy woman! Where did she escape to? Although her physical defense is destroyed, her Demon Soul remains, I must offer her Demon Soul in a blood sacrifice!"
"Peach Forest! She escaped into the Peach Demons’ territory!"
"Good, good, good! This wretched woman seems to want the Peach Demons to protect her, but unfortunately! Having obtained the Demon Seed of the Demon-Sealing Peak, us Pill Demons are not what we once were; these Peach Demons can’t protect her, nor do they dare!"
"Kill! Kill into the Peach Forest! If the Peach Demons dare to stop us, we’ll kill them all and eat them! It’s time for the Longevity Star Palace to change hands!"
The group of Pill Demons arrogantly charged into the Peach Forest, picking peaches and chopping trees all the way, completely unabashed. They pursued the Demon Soul of the purple-clad woman in this manner, chasing her into the depths of the Peach Forest—not too closely, lest she go crazy again and detonate her Demon Soul, leaving them nowhere to vent their anger.
...
After she self-destructed, only her Demon Soul remained intact. At this moment, her Demon Soul was weak and her consciousness was blurry, yet she was still gritting her teeth and stubbornly flying deeper into the Peach Forest.
While fleeing, she continued to worry, not entirely sure whether the Peach Demons here would shelter her, merely feeling it was somewhat possible.
If the Peach Demons here refused to assist, she would have no choice but to keep fleeing towards the direction of the Eleventh Palace. Ultimately, she would not easily leave!
She intended to go to the Eleventh Palace anyway, where she sought something—the Saint Extermination Grass. The only trouble was that the Eleventh Palace was located in the Great Fire Palace, a Land of Ten Directions Supreme Fire—a rarity among the Great Thousand Worlds.
Even at her peak, entering such a perilous fiery place required cautious and thorough preparation. Now, with only a wisp of Demon Soul left, the journey to the Great Fire Palace would be even more difficult...
Closer, closer!
Uncertain of how long she had fled within the Peach Forest, the purple-clad woman suddenly felt a ray of sunlight pierce through the gloom, shining into her eyes. Then, she saw at the edge of the Peach Forest ahead, by the stream, before the mountain rocks, a white-clad man holding an umbrella.
The white-clad man did not deliberately conceal his aura; his aura was so strong that it was enough to startle her, clearly the presence of an exceptional cultivator!
The appearance of this white-clad man was unfamiliar, definitely not someone she had seen before, yet for some reason, amidst the unfamiliarity, she felt a sense of unbreakable familiarity.
What made her even more familiar was the umbrella in the man’s hand...
The man in white appeared indifferent. Though he saw her fleeing, he seemingly ignored her, clearly not intending to lend a helping hand.
A hero saving a beauty? Nonexistent. Such a cold-hearted person obviously had no intention of interfering in a stranger’s fight.
Such an indifferent expression was all too common in the cultivation world. The woman in purple had lived alone until now, and she was long accustomed to such indifferent expressions; she used to treat strangers the same way. But for some reason, only this time, facing this man’s indifferent face, she felt a sting, a sense of... grievance...
She didn’t know where the sting and grievance came from, nor why she felt these emotions towards this stranger.
It was as if countless ancient memories awakened at this moment, as if countless longings surged upon her at this moment.
The emotions arose from nowhere, but in an instant, they filled the entire soul of the woman in purple.
They transformed into a call.
"Master, do you not recognize me? I am... Fuyao... Ji Fuyao, the name and surname you personally bestowed upon me..."
"Disciple has searched for you for so long... only to be torn apart by... the Demon Crane..." freewebnσvel.cøm
"Finally, I found... there was no need for the Divine Tree... no need, no need... He deceived me, deceived me..."
A sorrowful smile appeared on the woman in purple, as if she lost her mental support in an instant, and as if she exhausted all her strength in that instant, and fainted.
Her demon soul fell from the air, falling towards Ning Fan, not deviating in the slightest, as if from the very beginning, it was heading straight for this place.
Ning Fan furrowed his brows.
He didn’t understand why this unknown woman in purple called him Master. What was even stranger was that this address made him feel familiar, yet unfamiliar.
In the next moment, he seemed to think of something, but this thought was obscured by a grand cycle of reincarnation, preventing him from fully seeing through it.
What was even more bizarre was that almost simultaneously with the woman’s fainting, the Ant Lord in Ning Fan’s divine sense let out a cry of pain and fell into a coma as well.
The timing of this unconsciousness was too precise, as if it was the resonance of music, the resonance of souls...
"Perhaps this woman..."
Ning Fan had a vague suspicion, but had no means to verify it, and his brows furrowed even deeper because of it.
He was reluctant to involve himself in the affairs of others, yet this woman seemed to have a profound connection with him, violating his principles if he stood by and watched.
Seeing the woman in purple’s unconscious demon soul about to fall to the ground, Ning Fan sighed softly and finally waved his long sleeve, gathering the woman’s demon soul under his umbrella.
Seeing Ning Fan get involved in the chaos caused by the pill demons, the surrounding Peach Demons all had their expressions change drastically.
"Grand Wood Minister, you must not, must not! These pill demons are unreasonable by nature and have recently gained an opportunity, backing themselves with a powerful patron; their strength has soared. If you meddle in their affairs, we little Peach Tree Demons won’t be able to protect you, sir!"
Indeed, there were many Peach Demons standing around Ning Fan, but unfortunately, when the woman in purple flew over, she only saw Ning Fan, completely ignoring the presence of the Peach Demons here.
These Peach Demons followed behind Ning Fan like servants, reverently in awe.
Their address was even more inexplicable, actually calling Ning Fan Grand Wood Minister. What a ridiculous title? Ning Fan didn’t understand, nor did he wish to understand.
He had merely left Ximu Palace, visited the Great Fire Palace, and passed through the Longevity Star Palace to search for a few fragments of Duowen Wushuang.
He hadn’t done anything extra, yet these Peach Demons followed him and worshipped him as a deity, truly baffling! freeweɓnovel.cøm
Well, he was indeed a spirit...
"I’ll say it one last time, I am not the Grand Wood Minister as you noble ones say..." Ning Fan was a bit speechless, then his gaze shifted, looking far ahead at the pill demons cutting trees and picking peaches, his eyes filled with chilling brilliance!
This chilling brilliance, as seen by the surrounding Peach Demons, only confirmed their suspicions.
"It’s the Grand Wood Minister! This Immortal surely is the Grand Wood Minister! He must be sent by the Shanhai Arbiter to collect tribute peaches! Otherwise, why would he be angered by the random chopping of tribute trees by these pill demons!"
"That’s right, that’s right! The Grand Wood Minister has no intention of being a hero to save the beauty. He wants to save those peach trees being cut down! Truly diligent and responsible!"
"But this is bad! If he is this diligent, our attempt to bribe him is definitely going to fail! We Peach Demons haven’t paid tribute peaches for forty-two cycles of reincarnation, and the peaches owed number in the tens of billions of acres, how can we possibly pay it all at once! What should we do!"
