Chapter 1108: Chapter 1108: Black Fire Consumes My Broken Body, No Turning Back!

[Burn my broken body, never looking back. Ancient Kingdom Divine Spirits, never slaves...]

Ning Fan fled all the way towards the lower sky of Great Dark Heaven, with the sound of battle cries growing louder behind him.

This phrase continuously echoed in his mind, recalling scenes from thirty thousand years of painstaking cultivation. His face showed no joy in outsmarting Hei Sheng, no anger at the Dark Clan for reneging on their agreement, only complexity...

He was not Hei Sheng’s match; thus the victory was unearned, hence no joy.

He had never truly trusted the Dark Clan from the beginning, without any psychological gap, hence no anger.

He had long expected that coming to the Dark Clan would eventually lead to a true falling out due to various reasons, but he still came, just to repay the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor’s kindness. Everything was prepared for mentally.

Fortunately, although he was not Hei Sheng’s match, it was merely because he was inferior to Hei Sheng. In the end, he did not tarnish the reputation of Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor.

After all, he successfully proved to the entire Dark Clan that the Chaotic Ancient Ultimate Study was not inferior to the Ancestral Dark Arts! When he, despite being inferior to Hei Sheng in cultivation, broke through Hei Sheng’s Ancestral Dark Arts, when he forced Hei Sheng to abandon using illusions and spells, resorting to using a half-divine body to fight, it was already sufficient to prove the point.

Hei Sheng possessed strength greater than his, yet he couldn’t gain any advantage from Ancestral Dark Divine Powers against him, indeed proving Ancestral Dark Divine Powers are not as strong as Chaotic Ancient Ultimate Study!

"As long as the name of the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor is upheld, nothing else matters... Even if the cost of outsmarting Hei Sheng was somewhat significant, it doesn’t matter; I never expected to truly reconcile with the Dark Clan through a decisive battle. The Dark Clan is no kind, fundamentally different from the Southern Clan..."

Ning Fan sighed and closed his eyes.

The fragments of thirty thousand years replayed scene by scene in his mind. Time seemed to rewind back to the moment he tore open the Xuan Yin Treasure...

...

Time flows back to the past.

Boom!

Hei Sheng relied on his punch strength, forcibly breaking through the Primordial Thunder Cauldron, rushing out. Seeing this, Ning Fan was aware he was not Hei Sheng’s match, needing to make changes, rolled up the Prison Thunder Rope, Primordial Thunder Cauldron, and other damaged magical treasures, tore open the Xuan Yin Treasure, activated the God-Slaying Giant, and charged in, flying into a Ten-thousand-year Age Tower.

For Hei Sheng, he was still immersed in the moment Ning Fan broke through and fled, slightly frowned, then disdainful.

For Ning Fan, in the moment the opponent frowned, he spent a lengthy ten thousand years.

The first ten thousand years.

Once he entered the Tower of Years, Ning Fan heavily fell to the ground, dissipated the God-Extinguishing Giant, released the Cross Halo, and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

This was the backlash causing him to vomit blood after the Primordial Thunder Cauldron was broken.

Looking at the large hole punched out of the Primordial Thunder Cauldron, Ning Fan would be lying if he said he wasn’t pained. The Prison Thunder Rope’s damage wasn’t a big deal; it was merely an Innate Inferior Grade treasure. Ning Fan had many magical treasures; one more or one less Innate Inferior Grade treasure made no difference. But the Primordial Thunder Cauldron was a rare Innate Mid-grade treasure in the Era of Decline, even though not completely destroyed, just punched with a hole, it was enough to make Ning Fan sigh.

Monster! This Hei Sheng is definitely a monster! Apart from Hei Sheng, what other Immortal King could punch through the Primordial Thunder Cauldron?

No, not even an Immortal Emperor of the Era of Decline could do it; at least... it would take a Quasi-Saint to do so.

Such punch strength, if truly landed on himself, would only take dozens of punches to explode the God-Slaying Giant...

"Fortunately I possess fifty thousand Immeasurable Pills plundered from the Dark Clan, allowing all four types of cultivation to breakthrough the Timeless Realm. It’s sufficient... If I can enhance my strength further, fighting Hei Sheng again might be easier..."

"If not winning in a duel, then outsmarting in battle. This indeed lacks fairness, but who cares about fairness! In truth, it was An Yuanchen who was unfair first!"

Ning Fan sneered disdainfully, laughing at the Dark Ancestor’s despicability, self-deceiving.

He previously thought of the Dark Ancestor as an Ancient Great Cultivator with a slightly greater generosity, yet unexpectedly, he overestimated the Dark Ancestor’s generosity.

Actually sending a false inheritor to duel him, truly shameless!

Ning Fan was not blind; on the contrary, as a Heaven Separation Sect Master of Second Realm, his eyesight was terrifying. He had long noticed some problems on Hei Sheng’s body during a series of exchanges.

This Hei Sheng, a mere dogshit inheritor of the Dark Ancestor! His body contains no trace of the Dark Clan’s cultivation technique, and within his body, there’s not a single sliver of the Dark Ancestor’s bloodline!

Not a descendant, nor a disciple!

But a monster the Dark Ancestor found somewhere, randomly imparted a few divine skills, claiming him to be his successor, used specifically against the inheritor of the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor!

What level of power does the Dark Ancestor possess, how could he possibly teach a disciple as formidable as Hei Sheng!

It should be said that Hei Sheng’s strength has nothing to do with the Dark Clan; it’s undeniable that when Hei Sheng used Dark Ancestor’s Divine Powers, he couldn’t harm Ning Fan in the least! Hei Sheng’s strength relies on his body, vitality, yet this body, vitality, are not cultivated using the Dark Clan’s techniques...

What terrifying vitality! As an Immortal King, his vitality exceeds an Immortal Emperor’s thousands of times! Is it something the Dark Ancestor could produce? If he could do it, wouldn’t the Dark Clan’s members be all monsters!

What terrifying physical body! Actually punched through an Innate Mid-grade treasure, in the Dark Ancestor’s heritage, which one can enable an Immortal King to gain power sufficient to punch through Innate Mid-grade treasure!

"The Dark Ancestor may be unprincipled, but I must not disgrace the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor. He sent a false inheritor to fight me, I was not his match, it’s a fact, but it doesn’t mean my master’s Ultimate Study is inferior to his Ancestral Dark Arts! At least in terms of divine skills comparison, my cultivation of the Chaotic Ancient Ultimate Study holds the upper hand!"

Hei Sheng’s Black Yaw Finger, Black Water Chart, Yin Sha Furnace, all these three divine skills were directly confronted by Ning Fan, using the Severing Dao Divine Sword to break them, showing that the Chaotic Ancient Divine Skills were not defeated by the Ancestral Dark Divine Powers. Considering Ning Fan’s inherent strength far inferior to Hei Sheng’s, yet still able to contend equally in divine skills, it sufficiently indicates that the combat strength enhancement from the Chaotic Ancient Ultimate Study is higher than that of Ancestral Dark Divine Powers.

Clearly, the Chaotic Ancient Divine Skills are stronger! This point must have been personally witnessed by those Dark Clan Quasi-Saints.

Before defeating all of Hei Sheng’s Ancestral Dark Arts, Ning Fan did not evade into the Tower of Years but chose to grit his teeth and straightforwardly broke through Hei Sheng’s Ancestral Dark Arts.

He admits he wasn’t a match for Hei Sheng.

But he would never admit that Ancient Chaos is inferior to Dark Ancestor!

He also won’t concede that this false heir of the Dark Ancestor, in this deceitful battle, has anything remotely fair about it!

"Given my current strength, defeating Hei Sheng is not possible. If I can accomplish this, I could also overcome Senior Xiang, overcome Senior Hou Tu, and prevail over the Dark Clan’s First Order Quasi-Saint..."

"If I hadn’t realized the issue with Hei Sheng’s cultivation technique, I might have stubbornly clung to the belief that I could win this fight, but now, it’s unnecessary. Victory is impossible, defeat... even if the opponent is a false heir, I still... refuse to lose! Although Hei Sheng is strong, not someone I can defeat right now, if I further enhance my strength, I am confident in achieving a draw with him. At the very least... I cannot let rumors spread that the inheritor of Ancient Chaos is inferior to Dark Ancestor’s heir. I may not care about personal honor or shame, but I don’t want Dark Ancestor’s conspiracy to succeed, using a false heir to gain the honor of defeating the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor!"

Ning Fan cleared his mind of distractions and began consuming the Immeasurable Pill for cultivation, as even achieving a draw with Hei Sheng required significant planning.

In the tower, three hundred years passed, and he first broke through to the Ancestral Regression Realm in his Ancient Demon cultivation.

Another five hundred years passed, and his Ancient Demon Cultivation also broke through to the Timeless Realm.

After seven hundred more years, his Ancient God Cultivation also reached the Timeless Realm.

At this point, Ning Fan’s Spirit, Demon, and Devil cultivations all reached the level of a Newly Ascended Immortal Venerable. The only regret was that entering the Eternal Zero Calamity required twice the usual number of pills to increase one calamity’s mana, which resulted in Ning Fan consuming all his Immeasurable Pills, without allowing any strand of cultivation to achieve the height of Eternity’s First Tribulation.

The Divine Spirit Wasted Body was truly tyrannical. Ordinary people can break through to become a Newly Ascended Immortal Venerable after consuming five hundred Immeasurable Pills, but he had to consume tens of thousands before succeeding...

With all four strands of cultivation breaking through to the Timeless Realm, Ning Fan felt that when he next utilized his past divine power treasures, their power greatly improved, especially the strength of his heart. In full condition, he could open the Cross Halo from 227 breaths up to 415 breaths!

His heart had nearly doubled in strength!

With improvements in all aspects of his strength, Ning Fan couldn’t help but feel more confident in battling Hei Sheng again.

In the time remaining in the first tower, Ning Fan began consolidating his strands of cultivation, gradually refining his aura.

During the long meditation, scenes of his earlier encounter with Hei Sheng would occasionally float through Ning Fan’s mind. At the time, he hadn’t noticed anything strange about Hei Sheng, but gradually, he began to understand why Hei Sheng gave him an eerie sense of familiarity...

In the fourth millennium, he suddenly forced out a trace of purple divine power from his body.

His divine power was golden, and this purple divine power was not his!

This purple divine power was actually something that had secretly lurked within him since the day the Beast Fang Dagger cut his palm!

At that moment, Ning Fan suddenly had a revelation that Hei Sheng is actually a being with divine power!

"Could it be that Hei Sheng, like me, is an ancient deity? No wonder he’s so against the odds! Could it be that his divine power level is higher than mine, even reaching an Acquired Deity or Innate Divine Spirit?"

Ning Fan harbored a suspicion in his heart, but he couldn’t confirm it. The purple divine power did not explain much; it could not prove whether this power was cultivated by Hei Sheng himself or obtained through other means...

But every time he recalled that eerie feeling of familiarity the opponent gave him, Ning Fan thought that his guess might very well be true.

Cultivation knows no years, a millennium passes by in the blink of an eye.

After exiting the first Tower of Years, Ning Fan almost immediately entered the second Ten-Thousand-Year Age Tower, beginning his second ten-thousand-year cultivation.

With the Timeless Realm already consolidated, he decided during this second millennium to attempt cultivating the Eternal True Body.

For an Eternal Cultivator, the True Body can greatly enhance combat strength. Isn’t it known that the Eternal First Tribulation Wu Laoba, once transformed into a giant tortoise, was on par with a Second Calamity Immortal Lord? Ning Fan knew that if he could also cultivate an Eternal True Body, his combat power would surely soar.

But cultivating the Eternal True Body is not something that can happen just because one wants it to.

It requires resources, as well as opportunities and insight.

Resources were abundant, as Ning Fan plundered countless treasures from the Dark Clan. Dark Ancestor could never have imagined that Ning Fan possessed a heaven-defying Tower of Time, where only a moment in the outside world equated to tens of thousands of years, allowing him to exhaust various heavenly materials and earthly treasures over and over.

If he knew about this, Dark Ancestor would likely interfere with Ning Fan’s plundering actions, rather than letting Ning Fan strip the Dark Clan like a locust.

Ning Fan lacked not resources for the Eternal True Body, but rather the opportunity and insight.

Such opportunities are not easily found, and so, at the beginning of the second millennium, Ning Fan busied himself with enhancing his understanding of the Timeless Realm.

The fragmented mind cultivates Dao Thought; the Eternal Cultivator cultivates Dao’s Traces.

Dao Traces are the principles of the Great Dao. With the entrance of Spirit, Demon, and Devil cultivation into the Timeless Realm, Ning Fan found wielding the power of Dao Traces easier and more perfect. The same amount of Dao Traces’ power could now wield greater might.

The Eternal True Body requires the concentration of all body’s Dao Trace power, integrated with the Dao Thought, imitating all things to thus form.

In this world, there are no absolutely identical Eternal True Bodies, most are different from each other.

Wu Laoba’s True Body is a turtle, a beast form, of course, many people cultivate human form True Bodies, but each person’s encounter is different, resulting in diverse forms.

For Ning Fan, it wasn’t difficult to condense Dao Traces, but he lacked a concept of what form his True Body should take.

It’s not as if he can form whatever True Body he likes. The form of the True Body is often closely tied to the types of Dao Traces a cultivator comprehends. Wu Laoba is a turtle, because he gathers his True Body with the Dao Trace of water.

Ning Fan has too many and too complex Dao Traces, making it difficult to form a distinctive shape...

Thousands of years slipped by, and Ning Fan still had not formed a True Body.

Helplessly, Ning Fan had to temporarily abandon the quest to condense an Eternal True Body and instead started sorting through the numerous spoils seized from the Dark Clan, trying to find something among them to boost his combat strength.

He did seize a large number of refining materials from the Dark Clan, but is weapon refining that easy? To nurture an Innate Treasure, a millennium is far from sufficient, and Ning Fan was too lazy to spend his time refining treasures.

And his refining skills were only average in the Timeless Realm; even if he spent a lot of time refining, he might not create a treasure that satisfied him.

His vision was set too high...

Instead, it would be more convenient to directly seize others’ magical treasures...

Piece after piece of refining immortal materials were treated as junk by Ning Fan and tossed to the corner of the storage pouch.

However, the spiritual roots and Daoquan seized from the Dark Clan were placed into the Shennong Hundred Herbs Garden. Consequently, the garden became increasingly scenic with strange and peculiar plants flourishing.

Ancient King’s Dao Fruit Tree, Spirit Grapevine, Three Hundred Million Years Purple Jade Peach, Jade Pu’er...

There were Spiritual Tea trees, Spirit Fruit trees, and even Dao Fruit trees, all transplanted into the Shennong Hundred Herbs Garden by Ning Fan. He wasn’t particularly impressed by these plants, but he noticed that the more plants in the garden, the richer the spiritual energy, which benefitted the sword ancestor’s soul seed’s growth...

Sword ancestor...

Throughout the long years, Ning Fan was accompanied only by the little soul grass of the Shennong Hundred Herbs Garden, both swaying but remaining silent together.

Her soul seed had already emerged from the soil, revealing a small green sprout, akin to freshly budding grass...

This was the sword ancestor’s soul grass; as long as it continued to grow, someday he would meet the sword ancestor again...

In addition to this, there were many other good things obtained from the Dark Clan.

The Ascendant Immortal Pool, a pool that could aid first-step cultivators in cleansing their essence, increasing the chance of becoming immortals by about twenty percent. Its value was enormous and inestimable, a treasure capable of prospering a clan! The abundance of immortal cultivators in the Dark Clan wasn’t without reason; bloodlines played a part, and so did the Ascendant Immortal Pool. For ordinary people, a chance of immortality was less than one percent, but the Dark Clan used the pool to directly increase the chance by twenty percent for everyone, naturally mass-producing second-step immortal cultivators, leading to a larger base of strong individuals.

Of course, using the Ascendant Immortal Pool consumed a massive amount of Dao Crystals, but that wasn’t an issue, as talent is more important than wealth. With the pool, Ning Fan imagined that his Cauldron Furnace and his friends and relatives in the Rain Immortal World would benefit immensely, gaining the opportunity to reach the second step...

No one knows where the Dark Clan got this treasure, yet, it must now bear the surname Ning!

Boundary-Stabilizing Mount Tai, an innate inferior treasure capable of sweeping through opponents at the same level, worthy of causing a scramble among many Immortal Emperors. Considering that even the Flooded Bottle and Primordial Thunder Cauldron couldn’t deal with Hei Sheng, Ning Fan silently set this treasure aside.

Primordial Python Skin, able to cure all toxins and improve poison cultivation if ingested. Ning Fan refined this skin, significantly boosting the power of his Poisonous Yin-Yang.

Dark Illuminating King Diagram, a chart documenting the ultimate study of real realm divine skills. However, to learn the art depicted in the diagram, one must worship the Dark Illuminating King illustrated within and swear lifelong loyalty with solemn bowing...

What nonsense!

He didn’t lack divine skills, so why compromise himself? Seeing that the entire Dark Clan was devoid of any notable skills, it was evident that those who swore allegiance gained no true mastery. Thus, Ning Fan discarded the diagram into a corner without hesitation.

Melting Refinement Furnace, upon seeing this furnace, Ning Fan’s eyes couldn’t help but brighten! Previously, when seizing this furnace, Ning Fan had searched the memories of the Furnace-Guarding Immortal King, discovering that any magical treasure thrown into the furnace could be melted into forging liquid, used to synthesize higher-grade treasures.

Moreover, during the treasure snatching, the Furnace-Guarding Immortal King was busy melting dozens of Eleven Nirvana treasures within, ultimately synthesizing a Twelve Nirvana flying sword amid a radiant glow, an inexplicable process...

With enough Twelve Nirvana treasures, is there a possibility to directly synthesize innate treasures? Using low-grade magical treasures to form innate treasures seems like a bargain.

However, based on the Immortal King’s memory, synthesizing magical treasures still carried a considerable failure rate...

Considering that none of the Dark Clan’s Immortal Emperors possessed several innate treasures, Ning Fan speculated that either synthesizing innate treasures required an astonishing quantity of low-grade magical treasures beyond the Dark Clan’s capacity or the failure rate was too high for them to bear...

In any case, the furnace was quite tempting for Ning Fan; he had countless shabby magical treasures, and several innate treasures lying unused. Tossing all into the furnace for synthesis might yield a treasure of an unknown grade...

He wasn’t after quantity, just quality. If he could synthesize a supreme innate-grade attack treasure, he might truly have a chance to overcome Hei Sheng...

Action was taken immediately.

Ning Fan retrieved a heap of low-grade magical treasures, eager to experiment with the Melting Refinement Furnace.

Unexpectedly, after burning and refining all the low-grade magical treasures before him, not a single treasure was synthesized.

Failed? No, not really.

No treasures came into being, but a drop of burned red metallic liquid was obtained. Its color and appearance resembled copper yet couldn’t possibly be mundane copper...

"What’s going on?"

Ning Fan frowned, taking the copper liquid to scrutinize.

Yet soon after, the copper liquid abruptly evaporated, vanishing into the air as though the world wouldn’t permit its existence.

Ning Fan’s frown deepened as he extracted more low-grade magical treasures for further experiments.

He discovered that treasures beneath immortal tier only yielded copper liquid upon melting, whereas acquired treasures produced silver liquid.

Regardless of copper or silver liquid, once removed from the furnace, they could only exist briefly in air before evaporating, cleansed by the world...

"Why can’t I synthesize high-grade treasures like that Dark Clan Immortal King? Failing once or twice might be plausible as accidents, but failing numerous attempts in succession demands further contemplation..."

Ning Fan couldn’t comprehend and decided to employ his talent to communicate directly with the Melting Refinement Furnace.

The inquiry was startling—its first words left Ning Fan astounded!

Melting Refinement Furnace: "I am a royal subject of the Ancient Kingdom! Supreme Inversion Forty-Seven Withered Incinerating Refining Furnace King! Prepared to die for the supreme god!"

Ning Fan: "..."

Melting Refinement Furnace: "Request the supreme god to consume Copper Armor Divine Fluid, Copper Armor Silver Liquid, train Heavenly God Armor, do not waste, lest destroyed by the heavens..."

Ning Fan: "..."

He seems to have stumbled upon something extraordinary! Could it actually be related to the ancient deities?

Considering the Dark Clan’s Hei Sheng, already speculated to be related to ancient deities, it’s not surprising the Dark Clan possesses a divine artifact.

However, if it’s related to the ancient deities, this must be an extremely precious item. How could it be placed in the lower sky and not cherished by the Dark Ancestor?

Speaking of which, this furnace seems to be called the Supreme Inversion Forty-Seven Withered Incinerating Refining Furnace King. That name format is quite similar to his Refining God Cauldron.

[Nine Reversal Twenty-One Withering Refining Spirit Cauldron]

Could the prefixes like few reversals and few witherings indicate some kind of numbering?

Supreme Inversion, does it refer to the first inversion...

And what does Furnace King mean? Previously, the Refining God Cauldron never mentioned being a cauldron king. Speaking of which, the Refining God Cauldron couldn’t communicate with him so easily, only conveying simple intentions. It seems this Melting Refinement Furnace is of a much higher grade, possessing quite a sophisticated thinking capability.

Ning Fan: "Why were you thrown into the twelfth heaven? Could it be the people of the Dark Clan did not discover your value?"

Melting Refinement Furnace: "Dark Clan? Might the Upper God be referring to those descendants of the Immortal Spirits? Hmph, mere descendants of the Immortal Spirits. Even if they knew of my existence, they could never earn my loyalty!"

Immortal Spirits, once again Immortal Spirits.

Nowadays, Ning Fan could slightly differentiate these concepts. First, there were the divine spirits in the world, followed by the Immortal Spirits. When the divine spirits were annihilated, the barbarians, fiendgods, ancient demons, and ancient chaos who emulated the divine spirits all became outcasts, becoming the anomalies of heaven and earth; Calamity Thought, Buddha cultivators among others became mainstream. All these seem to stem from the descendants of the Immortal Spirits...

All the world’s contradictions originally were simply the opposition between Immortals and Gods...

Ning Fan: "Are you saying that the people of the Dark Clan cannot use you? But I clearly saw people from the Dark Clan using you to synthesize magical treasures. So why can’t I use you to synthesize when it’s me?"

Melting Refinement Furnace: "The Upper God jests! What use is it to synthesize external objects when enhancing oneself is the true path of the divine spirits! No matter how strong the magical treasure is, it can’t withstand the punch of a true god. I only intended to lure those descendants of the Immortal Spirits into the wrong path, intentionally guiding them to a misuse! Mere descendants of the Immortal Spirits, dreaming to use the true function of this Furnace King is absolutely impossible!"

Ning Fan: "...What exactly is your true function?"

Melting Refinement Furnace: "Any true god can use me to smelt heavenly immortal materials and treasures to cultivate Heavenly God Armor! The Upper God can naturally do so too!"

Ning Fan retorted speechlessly: "I just want to use you to synthesize magical treasures..."

Melting Refinement Furnace: "Magical treasures are merely external objects! The Upper God must not be led astray by deviant paths!"

Ning Fan was even more speechless: "And if I am determined to use you to synthesize magical treasures..."

Melting Refinement Furnace: "This little furnace would rather self-destruct its furnace body and perish than witness the Upper God tread the heretical path!"

...

...

This Melting Refinement Furnace sure is stubborn! Much like a steadfast old minister, preferring to run into a column and commit suicide rather than seeing the monarch stray down a wrongful path...

Ning Fan seemed to envision such a scene, himself willfully insisting on synthesizing magical treasures, while the old man of the Melting Refinement Furnace resolutely refused to comply, finally choosing to collide with a column to end his life as a form of remonstration...

Ning Fan’s mouth twitched.

If he can’t use the Melting Refinement Furnace to synthesize magical treasures, what use does he have for this furnace?

Could it be he truly needs to heed the furnace’s words to cultivate some Heavenly God Armor?

From the name, this Heavenly God Armor sounds quite imposing. Could it be some formidable divine skill exclusive to ancient deities?

If it is formidable enough, perhaps he could consider learning it to bolster his strength against Hei Sheng...

Ning Fan: "Let me ask you, how do I cultivate Heavenly God Armor?"

Melting Refinement Furnace puzzledly responded: "Did your father king not tell the Upper God?"

Father king...

His father is Yuntian Jue, seemingly irrelevant to any father king of ancient deities...

Melting Refinement Furnace: "Every Royal Divine Spirit is bestowed the Four Treasures of the Divine Spirit and taught the key to using them. Is it possible the Upper God has amnesia and can’t even recall this?"

Ning Fan: "I am not a Royal Divine Spirit; I... cultivated the divine spirit bloodline myself."

Melting Refinement Furnace: "The Upper God jests. Only a god capable of communicating with everything can achieve this. The power to communicate with all things belongs to the most special among the Nine Great Divine Arts, which only Royal Divine Spirits can awaken. The Upper God’s ability to converse with this humble one is evidence enough of your lordship’s royal status."

Ning Fan: "...There are no exceptions?"

Melting Refinement Furnace: "There are, but such exceptions only occur among the rebellious gods, those who have cultivated the Immortal Spirit Techniques. Such rebels might feasibly cultivate a royal bloodline, though the odds are even slimmer than a Royal Divine Spirit cultivating this divine art. Among tens of millions of rebellious gods, it’s rare to find even one. Judging by appearance alone, the Upper God clearly isn’t a rebellious god. This humble one’s discerning ability is still intact and won’t discriminate against the Upper God just because the royal bloodline is elusively faint!"

No, it’s not that my bloodline is faint; I am precisely the rebellious god you speak of...

Deities, Immortal Spirits, Fiendgods, ancient demons, ancient chaos, barbarians, Calamity Thought, I’ve dabbled in all sorts of scrambled crap... Too much indeed...

Ning Fan: "In any case, first explain to me how to cultivate the Heavenly God Armor."

Melting Refinement Furnace: "The Upper God truly has amnesia; if that’s the case, then listen to this humble one’s detailed explanation. Once the Upper God has perfected the Heavenly God Armor, be sure to annihilate all the descendants of the Immortal Spirits in the world as vengeance for my Ancient Country."

What grudge does the Ancient Country bear?

Forget it, I don’t want to inquire about such great secrets of the universe...

I also have no intention of slaughtering all the descendants of Immortal Spirits under the heavens. It seems like a Purple Dou Immortal Cultivator is also considered an Immortal Spirit’s descendant. Anyone from the Real Realms is an Immortal Spirit descendant, even those from Dreamland Realm, I guess. His women, loved ones...

Ahem, only a fool would listen to a furnace and go destroy the world.

After Ning Fan learned the method for cultivating Heavenly God Armor, he no longer paid attention to the babbling Melting Refinement Furnace and shut off the skill of communicating with all things.

One cannot help it; this skill is not suitable for continuous activation, otherwise, all things in the universe will keep talking to you. No matter how steadfast your mind is, over time, you’ll become mentally fragmented...

Looking again at the Melting Refinement Furnace, Ning Fan’s gaze grew serious.

According to the furnace, it is not an ordinary Melting Refinement Furnace, but a Royal Clan Furnace, inherently ranking among the kings of furnaces.

That’s why it’s positioned in the Supreme Inversion rank...

Supreme Inversion is the highest rank, consisting of Royal Clan artifacts, whereas anything beyond the Second Inversion is merely ordinary divine spirit artifacts.

In those ancient times, every ancient deity was bestowed with four artifacts at birth: Refining God Cauldron, Melting Refinement Furnace, Vital Essence Gourd, and Divine Consciousness Grinding Disc—essentials for a deity to enhance their own power.

Ning Fan is not an Ancient Kingdom deity; he simply stumbled upon becoming a deity; of course, he doesn’t have any artifacts on him.

The Refining God Cauldron was picked up in the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain.

The Melting Refinement Furnace was snatched from the Dark Clan...

As for the Vital Essence Gourd and Divine Consciousness Grinding Disc, he doesn’t have them, and doesn’t know their exact functions. Inquiry with the furnace yielded no results; it has suffered significant damage, with incomplete memory, having lived for so long that many things are forgotten.

However, just by hearing the names, Ning Fan could speculate that the so-called Vital Essence Gourd must be for deities to enhance their vital essence, while the Divine Consciousness Grinding Disc sounds like it’s for enhancing spirit sense...

The Refining God Cauldron is used to refine Blood of Ten Thousand Spirits to enhance divine cultivation, and the Melting Refinement Furnace is for cultivating Heavenly God Armor...

Speaking of which, is the horrifying Vital Essence of Hei Sheng the result of using some Vital Essence Gourd?

Hei Sheng...most likely a deity, but not a True God.

There are only three kinds of True Gods: Innate Divine Spirits, Acquired Divine Spirits, Divine Spirit Wasted Bodies.

According to the Melting Refinement Furnace, Hei Sheng can’t use it, and is not a True God. If not a True God, but still a divine spirit, there’s a possibility of being merely a demigod.

Demigod implies neither parent is entirely divine, having incomplete lineage...

Could Hei Sheng be a demigod?

If a demigod, with lineage inferior to a Divine Spirit Wasted Body, why can he suppress him? Ning Fan was perplexed.

Suddenly a speculation arose...

Could this Melting Refinement Furnace belong to Hei Sheng, hence placed in the Dark Clan?

Could Hei Sheng be a Royal Clan divine spirit, but due to one parent not being divine, thus... possessing Royal Clan lineage, yet unable to use the furnace due to demigod status?

That would truly be tragic... possessing an artifact, but unable to use it—indeed pitiful.

Fortunately, if Hei Sheng could use this furnace and cultivate Heavenly God Armor... perhaps he wouldn’t even fear the Ancient Great Cultivators.

"If so, my chances are even slimmer then..."

According to the furnace, the Heavenly God Armor’s defense is peerless, yet extremely difficult to cultivate; in a hundred Royal Clan divine spirits, achieving two or three is quite extraordinary.

The cultivation method involves refining various Immortal Materials and magical treasures into [Divine Liquid], then consuming the liquid for body tempering cultivation.

Even if unable to cultivate Heavenly God Armor, the consumption process of Divine Liquid can substantially enhance physical defense.

Unlike the Refining God Cauldron, the Melting Refinement Furnace only enhances the skin, flesh, and bone defense of deities, not elevating Spirit or divine sense.

"It’s fine, I don’t expect to truly cultivate Heavenly God Armor, but if the process enhances physical defense, that’s also good. I just wonder how much physical defense can be improved by refining all my useless magical treasures..."

"The Dark Clan Immortal King used this furnace to refine forging liquid for synthesizing magical treasures; whereas I refine Divine Liquid for body refinement, which will be stronger or weaker, only a trial can tell..."

Ning Fan took out heaps of unused low-grade treasures, placed them in the furnace for refinement.

And so, heaps of Copper Armor Divine Liquid were refined by Ning Fan, consumed one by one.

The era has changed; divine spirits aren’t allowed to exist in this age. Once Divine Liquid is refined, it must be consumed swiftly, or Heaven and Earth will erase its existence.

Copper Armor Divine Fluid is the lowest tier, Silver Armor Divine Fluid follows, above which lies the rarest Gold Armor Divine Fluid; according to the furnace, only top-grade Innate treasures and Heaven-Opening artifacts can refine Gold Armor Divine Fluid.

Ning Fan began trying to consume Copper Armor Divine Fluid.

But upon consuming the first mouthful, he suffered greatly, his intestines were burnt through by the scorching Divine Fluid, severely injured in an instant...

And this was merely Copper Armor Divine Fluid; supposedly, the higher the quality of Divine Fluid, the more terrifying the heat...

Ning Fan surmised: If not for the excessively slow refining process and short existence time of Divine Fluid, he might have used Copper Armor Divine Fluid to douse people, assuring that pouring out a basin could burn to death a heap of Immortal Cultivators.

Of course, it’s just a joke... This idea cannot be realized in the Era of Decline rejected by heaven and earth.

Ning Fan steadied himself, endured the severe pain, repairing his visceral wounds while forcibly refining the Copper Armor Divine Fluid.

Initially, there was nothing amiss about refining divine liquid. Everything proceeded smoothly except for the initial failure to adapt to the terrifying temperature of the divine liquid.

But trouble soon followed!

Ning Fan realized that each additional trace of copper liquid he refined increased the rejection of him by the heavens!

As the defense of his physical body increased, the difficulty in absorbing the mighty force of heaven and earth also increased!

More worryingly, as he refined the divine liquid, Ning Fan’s life expectancy was swiftly diminishing!

While his bone age did not increase, the celestial longevity bestowed upon him by the heavens was being stripped away as a punishment for practicing the Divine Spirit Dao!

Upon refining a complete drop of Copper Armor Divine Fluid, several minor lightning tribulations promptly descended!

After refining two drops of Copper Armor Divine Fluid, even a Heavenly Tribulation came crashing down!

Ning Fan secretly trembled, fully aware that just in this short period, nine thousand years of celestial longevity had been stripped from him by the heavens!

An Eternal Cultivator faces a Heavenly Tribulation once every nine thousand years. Ning Fan, having just broken through the Eternity Realm, theoretically should experience the arrival of a Heavenly Tribulation every nine thousand years. These nine thousand years are the time heaven provides cultivators to increase their cultivation levels. As cultivators improve their cultivation, the lightning tribulations become increasingly intense. If a cultivator’s cultivation level increases at a rate faster than the intensification of lightning tribulations, they can achieve immortality; if not, they will be annihilated by the tribulations...

The interval between the lightning tribulations is a heaven-given gift to cultivators — a buffer period for increasing their cultivation.

This is celestial longevity, a lifespan unique to Immortals!

Yet this celestial longevity was stripped away in the blink of an eye, losing nine thousand years!

Ning Fan was forced to stop refining the copper liquid within his body, hesitation appearing on his face.

Losing nine thousand years of celestial longevity seems frightening, but accumulating continuously will make a heap as great as a mountain. If he continues refining more divine liquid, he will certainly lose ninety thousand years, nine hundred thousand years, nine million years, ninety million years... losing an unimaginable amount of celestial longevity!

As his bone age is still very young, Ning Fan is not at all intimidated by lightning tribulations.

But if too much celestial longevity is stripped away, making the lightning tribulations fierce enough to annihilate even Immortal Emperors and Quasi-Saints... then what can he do!

This Divine Spirit Dao absolutely cannot be cultivated, cannot be touched! Otherwise, one day, he will be wiped out by heaven and earth!

But if he does not cultivate the Divine Spirit Dao, how can he defeat Hei Sheng, how can he uphold the honor of the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor...

"It seems I’ve encountered another huge decision. Compared to the honor of the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor, the vast majority of people would choose life, right... I, too, cherish life and fear death, may as well not cultivate this Divine Spirit Dao, not cultivate this Heavenly God Armor, what harm in doing so. With my current cultivation, as long as I plan meticulously, I have a fair chance of drawing even with Hei Sheng... Besides, even if I cultivate the Divine Spirit Dao and defy heaven, could I defeat Hei Sheng? Probably just even the odds..."

"This Heavenly God Armor is better left uncultivated... The honor of the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor can be upheld by other means..."

Ning Fan sighed, having made his decision, but this decision had barely been made when suddenly an aged cry reached his ears.

That cry was surprisingly coming from the God-Extinguishing Shield!

For the first time, the God-Extinguishing Shield was out of Ning Fan’s control.

For the first time, the God-Extinguishing Shield flew out of Ning Fan’s body on its own, transformed into a white-bearded old man, with an illusory body, wearing illusory golden armor, carrying an illusory sword and shield on his back, remaining silent, kneeling in front of Ning Fan!

"You are... the God-Extinguishing Shield?" Ning Fan squinted his eyes and asked.

The illusory old man shook his head as tears streamed down his aged face, yet remained silent, then nodded.

Ning Fan frowned, activating the communication with all things skill, attempting to hear the heart voice of the illusory old man.

However, he couldn’t hear anything! For some unknown reason, the communication with all things, which had worked flawlessly every time, was ineffective in front of this old man.

The old man remained silent, bowing towards Ning Fan, leaving Ning Fan puzzled, unable to understand what the old man was trying to convey.

Then, suddenly seeing the old man, in a state of panic, leap into the Melting Refinement Furnace!

Sss!

Ning Fan’s expression changed abruptly!

This old man represents the God-Extinguishing Shield, his greatest reliance, even if he decides to cultivate the Divine Spirit Dao, he cannot allow the God-Extinguishing Shield to be incinerated!

How dare he allow the old man to leap into the Melting Refinement Furnace to self-destruct!

Moreover, he has no intention of pursuing the path of the Divine Spirit Dao, leading to self-annihilation!

How could he possibly bear to watch the God-Extinguishing Shield be refined into a pool of divine liquid before his eyes...

Ning Fan rushed to the edge of the furnace, intending to rescue the old man from the furnace flames, but as soon as he reached his hand into the furnace, his entire arm was burned away by the scorching flames. If he hadn’t retracted his hand extremly quickly, the flames would have spread throughout his body, erasing his entire existence!

This was the heat released during the refining of the God-Extinguishing Shield. How terrifying is the Heaven-Opening Artifact! Gradually, Ning Fan found he couldn’t approach within ten zhang of the Melting Refinement Furnace, then a hundred zhang, a thousand zhang, ten thousand zhang...

The terrifying heat continued to spread, forcing Ning Fan to retreat far away. Despite his arm being reshaped, he couldn’t get close. If he had the God-Extinguishing Shield, he might dare to activate the God-Slaying Giant, braving the high temperatures to approach the Melting Refinement Furnace, but unfortunately... the God-Extinguishing Shield was currently inside the furnace, not in his body, and not responding to his call!

Is the God-Extinguishing Shield determined to refine itself into divine liquid!

Why!

Why cry, why grieve, why kneel, why self-destruct...

Ning Fan’s face was like water, his mood extremely bleak.

He still had to battle Hei Sheng later, yet unexpectedly had an incident arise before the battle, losing the God-Extinguishing Shield, his greatest reliance...

How is he supposed to fight now!

Could he only watch as the God-Extinguishing Shield refines him away?

The divine liquid refined from a Heaven-Opening Artifact, what great benefits would consuming it bring?

But merely consuming a small amount of copper liquid caused him to lose nine thousand years of immortal lifespan, what if it was a Heaven-Opening Artifact...

Ning Fan felt even more troubled.

He was the dignified Tenth Generation Barbarian God, and the Ancient Kingdom’s God-Destroying Shield was a precious treasure personally bestowed upon him by the First-Generation Barbarian God Dao Barbarian Mountain, a symbol of the Barbarian God.

It was lost just like that...

A gift from the elders, he didn’t guard it well; the symbol of the Tenth Generation Barbarian God, he didn’t keep it safe, he... failed...

[Master, do not grieve...]

The voice of the God-Extinguishing Shield came from the distant furnace fire, the same as the voice Ning Fan heard back then, exactly alike.

Previously, the God-Extinguishing Shield seemed unable to tell Ning Fan something due to certain reasons, or perhaps it did tell him, but the words were erased by heaven and earth.

But at this moment, Ning Fan finally heard the words of the God-Extinguishing Shield.

He really wanted to grab this old companion out and ask well why it wanted to self-destruct, why it cried, why it knelt, why it abandoned him...

But ultimately he did not speak.

Because in the words of the God-Extinguishing Shield, he heard apology and helplessness.

The other party must have had some difficulties, to be like this...

But those difficulties, could not be concealed from heaven and earth, be told to him...

"Accompanying each other for so much time now, we’ve battled side by side, protected one another. I regard you as a friend, you should know witnessing you burn to nothingness, what kind of feeling it is for me, you... really cannot return to my side anymore..." Ning Fan sighed longingly, closed his eyes, unwilling to watch the scene of the God-Extinguishing Shield burning away, clenched his fists tightly, so tight that his nails pierced through flesh without him knowing.

Even though it was merely a shield, its departure left him somewhat sorrowful, somewhat dissatisfied!

[Master, do not grieve...]

[Master, do not grieve...]

[Burn my remnant body, never look back. Ancient Kingdom Divine Spirit, never be a slave...]

[Heaven and Earth are a cage, my master shall break through. All beings suffer, my master shall save them...]

[I implore my master, consume me into the belly, shatter the divine path, obliterate the void...]

No more voices echoed.

The heat in the universe seemed to disappear all at once, a cool breeze brushed his face, carrying a sense of loneliness and desolation...

"Why must you die..."

Ning Fan felt interest waning in an instant.

He had an obsessive personality, it was difficult to regard living beings as friends due to the unpredictability of human hearts, hence he preferred to gather all sorts of strange things as servants.

As servants, there was affection, especially for the God-Extinguishing Shield, a man and a shield, weathering life and death, calling it a life-and-death companionship was not an exaggeration.

But in one night, all left him, as if betraying him...

Ning Fan even failed to figure out why the God-Extinguishing Shield had to leave...

Why did this shield have to force him to consume divine liquid, walk the divine path.

Was there some kind of calculation inside...

But why, Ning Fan only felt urgency from the words of the God-Extinguishing Shield, that urgency was an undisguisable worry, worrying for him the master...

Was there a reason deeply connected to the master, that the God-Extinguishing Shield had no choice but to die?

Why, why...

A pool of golden divine liquid emerged in the melting refinement furnace, that golden divine liquid exuded an exceedingly powerful energy, but also gradually showed signs of evaporating away!

It was the transformation of the God-Extinguishing Shield, quickly being erased by heaven and earth...

Inside the divine liquid, for some unknown reason, there was an aura resentful of divine spirits, yet it did not hold any repulsion toward Ning Fan.

Simply because Ning Fan was the Tenth Generation Barbarian God...

A former master of this golden divine liquid...

"Why must you leave me behind..."

Ning Fan stood silently in front of the melting refinement furnace, gazing at the gradually cooling but never solidifying divine liquid inside the furnace, watching as heaven and earth bit by bit erased it, internally struggling, making some sort of decision...

The words of the God-Extinguishing Shield before its death echoed time after time in his mind.

[Burn my remnant body, never look back. Ancient Kingdom Divine Spirit, never be a slave...]

[Heaven and Earth are a cage, my master shall break through. All beings suffer, my master shall save them...]

[I implore my master, refine me into armor, shatter the divine path, obliterate the void...]

"I have no interest in saving all beings, nor do I have interest in shattering the divine path or destroying the world. Purple Dou taught me, a young person should have ideals, should take stabilizing the chaotic world as one’s duty, but I gradually discover, that is difficult, difficult... I want to protect something, yet keep losing it, Qingling is gone, Seven Generations are gone, now even you abandon me..."

"I wish to extend the life of my Ancient Chaos Master, but ultimately didn’t witness his awakening..."

"I wish to challenge the Dark Clan, yet cannot defeat Hei Sheng. This Hei Sheng, though merely a false heir, is stronger than me, yet it is true..."

"I am not strong, rather weak, the higher the cultivation improves, the more clear this recognition becomes. Human strength finally runs out, since obtaining you, whenever in danger, I would hide beneath your protection, it becomes a reliance, a dependency, yet it gradually softens and fears my heart..."

"Just like this time, I am fearing the deprivation of immortal lifespan, fearing the will of heaven, fearing loss, because fate is unchangeable, gradually becoming helpless, gradually compromising... This, is not good!"

"I know not why you must leave, yet your departure pointed out one thing to me."

"Compromise is wrong..."

"Heaven wants to take away my immortal lifespan, what gives it the right!"

"The Dark Clan wishes to kill me, what gives them the right!"

"If transforming into divine liquid to be consumed by me is your wish, then I shall fulfill you..."

"If you wish not to be a shield blocking before me, then merge into my body, refine my flesh and bones! Rather than letting heaven and earth erase you, it’s better that, I... consume you!"

Ning Fan gathered the divine liquid of the God-Extinguishing Shield, before it dissipated, his eyes flashed with cold light and drank it all.

Internally, feeling a slight tear and self-mockery. He mocked Hei Sheng for consuming companions, yet now he’s doing the same thing...

Master, do not grieve?

Heh, why not!

You tell me not to grieve, then I just don’t grieve? Are you the master, or am I the master!

Rumble!

As Ning Fan began refining the God-Extinguishing Shield’s divine liquid, all at once, thousands of major and minor heavenly tribulations appeared in the sky.

Heh, near a thousand great heavenly tribulations arrived all at once, isn’t this saying that he was stripped of nine million years of immortal lifespan by heaven!

"Old companion, see it? You let me lose nine million years of lifespan all at once, once stepping onto this path, I... cannot turn back now!"

"So you must bear responsibility till the end, follow me... to break through these heavenly tribulations! Follow me... to act recklessly!"

"As for your requests... I will consider! Those who make you shed tears, I will... beat them up!"

Ning Fan’s eyes surged with murderous intent, he was in a very bad mood right now, very bad, even though these near ten thousand major and minor heavenly tribulations combined could kill a Sixth Calamity Immortal Emperor, he had no intention of evading them!

What a ridiculous heavenly tribulation!

What a ridiculous Dark Clan!

What a ridiculous Hei Sheng!

He wanted to break through them all!

Melting Refinement Furnace: "Ice Rain Technique, dog ears don’t seem to be insults..."

Ning Fan: "Quiet! That doesn’t matter!"

[Slay the Divine!]

[Slay the Divine!]

[Slay the Divine!]

Turns out heavenly tribulations can speak too, heh, why didn’t I carefully listen before!

Rumble!

Countless heavenly tribulations descended simultaneously, Ning Fan was instantly engulfed by an unprecedentedly massive tribulation of wind, flame, and thunder, yet a more intense body-protecting golden light blasted forth from the depths of the heavenly tribulation...

A form unstable golden-armored gigantic body gradually emerged amidst the heavenly tribulations, carrying indisputable fury and madness, unlike... the previous numbness!