Chapter 1196: Chapter 1196: Wrath of the Sacred Ants!

According to the Slime Monster, meat soup stewed from Immortal Venerable ant species greatly improves the Mana Purity of Immortal Venerables and Immortal Kings, but has less effect on Immortal Emperors.

Right now Ning Fan’s Mana Purity was only at the level of a Four Calamity Immortal King, so after consuming the Ant Species Soup, the effect was quite obvious.

An average Immortal King drinking one pot of ant-species meat soup could roughly refine the purity of about ten tribulations worth of Mana. With the Refining Purity Mantra in hand, once Ning Fan circulated it in coordination with refining the soup, almost none of the medicinal power was wasted and was perfectly absorbed by him.

The effect he got from one pot of meat soup was more than three times that of an ordinary person, able to purify thirty to forty tribulations of Mana.

In the end, the sixty to seventy pots of meat soup stewed by the Slime Monster were all finished by Ning Fan. No matter how many times he drank it, he simply could not get used to that poop-like taste; every time he drank, he almost gagged.

Ning Fan’s discomfort was precisely the Slime Monster’s delight. Watching Ning Fan’s repeatedly frustrated expression, her face bloomed with laughter, her pair of big moe eyes dazzling like a red Sun on a snowy morning, radiance blazing. The more soup she cooked, the happier she became. She was just planning to stew a few more pots to disgust Ning Fan when she suddenly shuddered, feeling that something was very wrong...

The ant species used to stew the meat soup had actually all been used up!

Heavens! What had she done! Those were nearly seventy Immortal Venerable ant species! Before, she had only been focused on bullying Ning Fan, had actually gotten carried away, forgotten all restraint, and in a single day had poured nearly seventy bowls of Ant Species Soup into Ning Fan...

The ant species were too tonifying; how could they be eaten like this! Over-supplementation would cause big trouble! Ning Fan’s small frame, one look and you could tell he was weak! The result of a weak body unable to bear supplements would at best be Spirit swelling in pain, Veins in disorder, Mana hyperactive and out of control; at worst it would damage his foundation, injure his bones and blood; more serious would be directly tonified to the point of blood and Qi flowing in reverse, body exploding and dying...

Now she’d really done it; this little weak chicken Ning Fan was probably going to be directly killed by her "nourishment"! Although she wanted to squeeze Ning Fan out, she did not intend to play him to death, because if that happened she would definitely be heavily punished by the master, and her end would be miserable, extremely miserable...

"Little idiot—ah no, Brother Ning, this little sister has something to tell you. The nearly seventy ant species you hunted earlier have already... already... all been eaten by you..." The Slime Monster was starting to feel frightened, her voice even trembled a bit.

"Hm? The ant species are already used up? After killing off that batch of Corpse Puppets earlier, there don’t seem to be any other Corpse Puppets around. So much time has passed and no more Corpse Puppets have been drawn over... Perhaps we should change locations. The resentment in the northwest is the heaviest; you can even see the phenomenon of resentful ghost-clouds in that direction with the naked eye. There must be no shortage of Corpse Puppets over there; let’s go take a look." Ning Fan said with a smile.

Just by eating ant species he could massively increase his Mana Purity, so naturally he was in a good mood.

After drinking nearly seventy bowls of Ant Species Soup, Ning Fan had refined more than two thousand four hundred tribulations of Mana in one go. Adding in the fruits of his cultivation from this past period, at this moment a full quarter of the Mana in his body had been refined to the purity of a Five Tribulations Immortal King.

If there were enough ant species, Ning Fan was confident he could complete the purity elevation of all his Mana in a very short time and formally achieve Five Tribulation Mana Purity.

"This, um... it’s best not to hunt any more ant species today..." the Slime Monster said, wanting to speak but stopping.

"Why? Could it be that if we hunt too many Corpse Puppets here at once, some change will occur? Hm, your concern is not unreasonable either. This is the Twelfth Layer of the Earth Abyss, the deepest part of the Light Ants’ nest. If we hunt ant species too excessively, it’s very likely we’ll be noticed by the other side... It’s just that in this world, effort and reward are always proportional. So long as I can quickly improve my Mana Purity, it’s fine to take some risks..."

"That’s not the reason..." The Slime Monster covered her face with her little mud hands, speechless to the point of choking. How was she supposed to explain to Ning Fan the sin she had committed...

"Then what is the reason? Uh, this is..."

Ning Fan suddenly felt his Dantian growing more and more hot and dry!

At first, after drinking the Ant Species Soup, his body had indeed felt warm and toasty, but Ning Fan hadn’t paid it any mind. It’s soup—of course you’d feel warm after drinking it. But now that he’d settled down, he immediately sensed something was wrong.

A little tent in a certain part of his body was starting to rise!

Even more humiliating, the tip of his nose grew hot, and he almost had a nosebleed!

Hot, so hot!

This scorching heat gave rise to a powerful craving; he needed to release, right now, immediately, otherwise all the blood essence in his body would rush in reverse to his head and damage his foundation!

"You didn’t seem to tell me before that eating too many ant species would have such side effects..." Ning Fan looked at the Slime Monster with burning eyes. This heat was just his body’s natural reaction at the moment; he didn’t actually have any designs on the Slime Monster.

But the Slime Monster did not see it that way!

She could tell!

Ning Fan had over-supplemented and now wanted a woman to release with! In an instant, hundreds of tragic scenes flashed through her mind... Ning Fan taking revenge on her, pinning her to the ground for a "papapa" session to vent... Ning Fan hanging her up to vent... Ning Fan boiling her into soup to vent... he...

"M-my Mana Purity is dozens of times higher than yours. If you dare touch me, I’ll use Mana burning to burn you to death! You absolutely can’t touch me! I mean it!" The Slime Monster retreated with a swish of swishes, scared stiff. She really feared that if Ning Fan went crazy, he wouldn’t even spare a lump of mud like her...

Ning Fan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

So that was it; no wonder this Slime Monster had tried to lure him into patting her head the moment they met—she’d actually wanted to use the instant of physical contact to burn him with her Mana Purity and ambush him...

No wonder he had felt a faint sense of danger at the time. This Slime Monster really wasn’t as simple as she appeared on the surface.

"You’re overthinking it. Even if I, Ning Fan, needed someone to help me vent, I wouldn’t go looking for a lump of mud." Ning Fan secretly ran the Yin Yang Transformation and found that even that couldn’t suppress the evil fire in his body, once again marveling at the medicinal power of the ant species. It seemed he needed to make a trip back to the Xuan Yin Treasure and have his Cauldron Furnaces save his life...

"Damn it! You actually look down on Niba! What’s wrong with Niba! How has Niba ever offended you! Without us hardworking Niba tilling the soil, where would you get all those tender white Spiritual Medicines and immortal herbs to consume! If the world had no Niba, the cultivation civilization would regress by five hundred eras—no, by a full thousand!"

The Slime Monster chirped and chattered on endlessly.

Ning Fan couldn’t be bothered to listen to the Slime Monster’s long-winded speech. Apologies, but he needed to go vent to save his life; otherwise his blood and Qi really would reverse and surge to his head, and then things would truly get out of hand.

"Wait for me here. I’ll be right back."

With that, Ning Fan slipped into the Xuan Yin Treasure. Over there, there were plenty of Cauldron Furnaces that could save his life.

"Wait! Where are you going? You can’t just leave me here all alone! How long is ’right back’ supposed to be! How long am I supposed to wait for you here! Damn damn damn! You’re in your Boundary Treasure World seeking pleasure, while I’m out here in the wind and fire waiting for you to come back... At least bring me into your Boundary Treasure space to cool off for a while..."

The Slime Monster replenished her moisture to avoid being baked into dried mud by the flaming ground while complaining bitterly without stop...

...

The lingering power of nearly seventy ant species was simply too enormous; Ning Fan spent a full three days before finally dispelling all of it.

Three days later, Ning Fan returned from the Xuan Yin Treasure to the outside world. He had thought the Slime Monster would obediently wait for him outside, but unfortunately he was wrong. Looking around, there wasn’t the slightest trace of the Slime Monster.

"Did she go back by herself? That’s a bit troublesome. I’ve already memorized the Formation incantations for hunting Corpse Puppets here; even if I’m the only one left, I can still capture ant species. The problem is that the medicinal power of the ant species is far too huge and not suitable for eating raw; it has to be processed... The method of stewing that meat soup appears simple, but in truth the technique is extremely complex. Without that lump of mud, I can’t stew the meat soup..."

Ning Fan sighed slightly in helplessness. It seemed he needed to teleport back and bring the Slime Monster over again.

Hm, this is...

Ning Fan’s gaze suddenly sharpened.

Between heaven and earth, a single strand of green hair suddenly drifted in from an extremely distant place on the wind, flying all the way into Ning Fan’s hand.

This was... an Ancient Demon Lost Art, the "Lifesaving Silken Thread Technique"! This ancient Divine Skill he had only ever chanced upon in ancient texts; he hadn’t expected that such a wondrous Divine Skill truly existed in the world!

Legend had it that an ancient demon who understood this technique, no matter what kind of secluded, isolated place they were trapped in, only needed to pluck a strand of their green hair and ignite it to ignore Realms and ignore distance, sending a plea for help to the person they wished to see...

Then the question was, who was using this ancient Divine Skill to call out to him for help? As wondrous as the Lifesaving Silken Thread Technique was, it could not convey words. No one could judge what the owner of this strand of hair had experienced or why they needed help, based on this single object alone.

Ning Fan sniffed the strand of hair. It carried an extremely faint fragrance, not the scent of powders or rouge, but a very fresh smell of earth, like the scent of mountains after a new rain.

"It’s that lump of mud, she’s in danger..."

Ning Fan frowned. He had originally thought that the Slime Monster had returned to the Sixth Layer of the Earth Abyss three days ago, but apparently not; she seemed to have run into trouble here on the twelfth layer...

That Slime Monster herself was far from weak, but there was still a gap between her and a Quasi-Saint. And this place happened to be the deepest part of the Light Ant Clan’s nest—having a Light Ant Quasi-Saint show up here wouldn’t be strange at all...

"That little mud-ball very likely really has met danger here. Of course, it’s also possible she’s just, like before, plotting against me or playing tricks on me..."

After finding Ning Fan, the strand of hair rose up into the wind again, drifting back the way it had come. The direction it pointed to was where the Slime Monster currently was.

Ning Fan hesitated over whether he should go save the Slime Monster. He did not fear the dangers here; he only worried this was yet another of the Slime Monster’s pranks, another scheme...

While he was still hesitating, that fluttering strand of hair was suddenly burned into ash by a demonic ray that slashed down from the end of heaven and earth!

Now there was no need to hesitate! The strand had been destroyed; even if Ning Fan wanted to follow it to find the Slime Monster, it was impossible! On this Twelfth Layer of the Earth Abyss, the suppression on spirit sense was even greater. Here, he could not use any perception method at all. Trying to find the Slime Monster in this vast twelfth layer was no different from a fool’s dream!

"Who did that? Get out here!"

Ning Fan’s eyes turned cold. His aura swept out, and a piece of sky instantly cracked; space at one spot shattered, and a burly man in silver armor, caught completely off guard, tumbled out of the broken space, his face gloomy.

This silver-armored man actually possessed Quasi-Saint cultivation, with Mana of eleven thousand tribulations! But he was not a true Quasi-Saint—he was the result of several Light Ant experts fusing together! A fake Quasi-Saint!

Ning Fan recognized this man’s face! The day he cooperated with the All-Knowing Elder and destroyed an Ant Lord’s nest, the Quasi-Saint he fought back then was precisely this silver-armored man! That day Ning Fan had failed to kill him and let him escape, but who would have thought that this man would appear before him again here and now!

Now that was enemies on a narrow road!

"So it’s you! Seems that mud monster wasn’t lying after all—there really is another intruder in my Light Ant territory! I just didn’t expect the intruder to be you! The wound you left me that day still faintly aches even now! Since we’ve met, we might as well settle the grudge of that day once and for all!"

As soon as the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint saw that the intruder was Ning Fan, his gaze instantly turned ferocious, hatred surging to the sky!

Of course within that hatred, there was also some dread of Ning Fan...

Back then, when he fought Ning Fan at the Ant Lord’s nest, he had been completely no match for Ning Fan, because Ning Fan’s Liangyi Guarding Sword was too powerful! The sight of Ning Fan alone with one sword, looking down on the world, had left a deep shadow in his heart!

Fortunately he remembered: although Ning Fan defeated him that day, he had also broken that Innate Superior treasure sword in the battle.

"That day I fled back to the twelfth layer in disgrace, my injuries on the verge of killing me. Fortunately, the Yin Mu High Priestess spent her own essence to treat me, and within just a few days my wounds were healed. The High Priestess even bestowed me a treasure, ordering me to carry this treasure and take revenge, to be sure to kill the madman who destroyed that Queen Mother’s nest. My strength now surpasses what it was in the past, while this kid has broken his Innate Superior treasure sword and his power has greatly declined. That day he only beat me by relying on the advantage of a magical treasure. Today, I will crush this kid with absolute strength and wash away my humiliation!" This time, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint was absolutely confident!

No more useless words!

The Silver Armored Quasi-Saint flew down to the ground, his entire body transforming into a giant silver figure of light, stepping on the flaming earth as he charged to kill Ning Fan!

"Opening his Eternal True Body the moment we meet, huh. Last time he only opened his Eternal True Body at the very end, when he had no other choice. It seems because multiple experts fused into one, his Eternal True Body became very unstable. I didn’t expect that after just a few days, his Eternal True Body would stabilize this much..." Ning Fan’s expression grew slightly solemn.

After opening his Eternal True Body, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint’s Mana aura rose to twelve thousand tribulations.

Seeing this, Ning Fan likewise gave his body a shake and transformed into a Golden Flame Giant Body. His Mana soared as well, rising from fourteen thousand eight hundred tribulations to fifteen thousand eight hundred.

Ning Fan’s Mana Purity was not high, but the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint was likewise only a fusion body and his Mana Purity was not high either! Under such circumstances, facing this fake Quasi-Saint, Ning Fan possessed an absolute advantage in Mana. Even without the Liangyi Guarding Sword, he still did not fear this man in the slightest!

Boom, boom, boom!

In the span of a single exchange, the golden flame giant and the silver light giant had already traded hundreds of punches, with the silver light giant clearly falling into disadvantage.

The situation on the field was completely beyond the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint’s expectations! With the help of the Yin Mu High Priestess, his Eternal True Body had stabilized quite a bit. He had thought that after his strength increased, the gap between his cultivations and Ning Fan’s would shrink, but to his surprise, upon meeting again, the gap between their cultivations had actually grown!

"Impossible! The last time we met, this kid’s normal Mana was clearly only fourteen thousand two hundred tribulations. How has his normal Mana soared by six hundred tribulations in less than two months! How can there be such a monstrous freak in this world, able to advance so much in such a short time! Could it be that All-Knowing Madman helped this kid? Can that old madman’s research really make someone’s strength surge?"

The more the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint fought, the more shocked he became. He had originally thought that after Ning Fan lost his Innate Superior magical treasure, his strength would plummet; he never imagined that even without using any magical treasure and fighting bare-handed, Ning Fan could still beat him so badly he couldn’t tell east from west!

What was that crisscrossing halo of light!

And that bodily technique that could trigger critical hits and chained strikes, what Divine Skills was that!

Last time, with the Liangyi Guarding Sword in hand, Ning Fan hadn’t even needed to use other Divine Skills to easily crush the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint.

This time was different. Even if the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint was not a true Quasi-Saint, he could not be underestimated. Ning Fan did not dare to be careless; the moment they clashed he unleashed his trump-card techniques, the Cross Halo and the Ancient Demon Mountain-Shattering Strike!

The Cross Halo’s black radiance surged to the heavens. Under this halo, Ning Fan’s Mana was inexhaustible, and his attacks were bold and unrestrained. This style of fighting, which didn’t care about Mana consumption at all, was something the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint simply couldn’t endure!

Ning Fan’s fists were even more terrifying. His punches flowed together, each punch stronger than the last. Under that torrential storm of blows, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint could only defend; he had no chance to counterattack at all!

What kind of joke was this!

This kid lost his Innate Superior magical treasure and he’s still this strong! With this level of strength, even in the Light Ant Clan he’d be enough to rank in the top five, wouldn’t he!

Totally can’t beat him!

"Sky-Dueling Jade Umbrella, protect me at once!"

Fortunately this time the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint had a magical treasure bestowed by the High Priestess for protection. After just a single exchange he had already been beaten silly by Ning Fan and no longer dared to hold back. He immediately spat out an azure spike of light, which transformed into a large green umbrella shimmering with jade luster, protecting the three feet above his Tian Ling.

It was an Innate Mid-grade magical treasure, used for defense and saving one’s life. Once the umbrella opened, jade light like trailing tassels poured down like the Milky Way, tightly enveloping the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint.

The umbrella’s radiance was truly extraordinary! With the umbrella light upon him, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint’s physical defense actually grew more than ten percent stronger! This umbrella light seemed capable of strengthening its master’s physical defense, and this strengthening was not only within the scope of defense, but also enhanced his physical attacks. With this umbrella’s blessing, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint found it noticeably easier when trading blows with Ning Fan again.

Unfortunately, he only found it a little easier for a short while; it didn’t take long before he still couldn’t keep up with Ning Fan.

An increase of ten percent in physical toughness only allowed him to catch his breath for a moment under Ning Fan’s torrential assault. As the number of chained strikes rose, Ning Fan’s offensive grew ever fiercer. Before the chain even reached six thousand hits, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint could no longer hold out!

He was a Quasi-Saint formed using a secret technique of the Light Ant Clan, and this kind of fusion was highly unstable. At this moment, unable to withstand Ning Fan’s punches, the fusion within his body immediately showed signs of collapsing!

This both shocked and frightened the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint! He couldn’t beat Ning Fan even with Quasi-Saint cultivation; if the fusion separated and he reverted to the original bodies, with the Cultivation Realm of those several true bodies at only Immortal Emperor and Half-Saint, they would be even less of a match for Ning Fan!

Seems revenge would not be happening today. The urgent matter was to do what he did last time—use a secret technique to escape from Ning Fan’s hands!

"Ant Man Evasion Technique!"

Swish!

With the sound of something tearing through the air, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint, who had been locked in combat with Ning Fan, vanished from before Ning Fan’s eyes without any warning, in an instant crossing the distance of several flaming continents—he knew he was outmatched and was trying to flee!

Ning Fan’s expression immediately turned rather unsightly.

This Ant Man Evasion Technique isn’t the fastest Escape Technique in terms of flight speed, but it is absolutely one of the fastest in the world when it comes to starting speed!

As everyone knows, low-level movement like teleportation or spatial shifting, and high-level movement like the major Escape Techniques, all require a charging process. You must first activate your Mana before you can move. Even someone as heaven-defyingly fast as Ning Fan still needs to sway his body or take a step before moving; there must be such a process. No matter how short the time it takes, that process has to exist...

But the Ant Man Evasion Technique used by the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint completely ignores this common sense! The start-up of this technique has no warning at all, requires no movement, and doesn’t even require the mobilization of Mana! The moment a thought arises, the person has already shot beyond the Ninth Heaven, completely skipping any starting process!

Last time, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint used this bizarre life-preserving technique to escape from Ning Fan’s hands.

This time he repeated the same trick and actually once again managed to escape Ning Fan’s line of sight, which displeased Ning Fan greatly! He had clearly already been secretly guarding against the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint’s escape, yet still failed to stop him!

Could it be that only by beforehand casting Heaven-Sealing Earth-Locking can this technique be restrained! Unfortunately this encounter with the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint was far too sudden; Ning Fan had no chance to seal the heavens and lock the earth in advance...

"You think it’s that easy to escape from my hands! Last time the Ant Lord’s Nest exploded; I could barely protect myself, so it was inconvenient to capture you and I could only watch you leave. This time is different! You might escape the First Step, but you can forget about escaping the Second Step!"

Sizzle!

Ning Fan took a single step forward and vanished from between heaven and earth.

Almost at the same time, several continents away, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint who was fleeing in utter disarray suddenly felt a sharp pain in his body and crashed into a wall!

The wall blocking his way was a Golden Flame Giant with ferocious flames soaring to the sky!

Ning Fan’s speed was too fast. Even though his start was a step slower than the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint’s, he still used his Second Step to easily catch up with this man!

"I’ll only ask once—where is that lump of Niba now!" Ning Fan’s true self said in a heartless voice.

"Hmph! What identity does this General have, and why should I answer you! If you want to know the Mud Demon’s whereabouts, then trade your life for it!"

Ant Man Evasion Technique, Nine Consecutive Flashes!

Without any warning, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint once again vanished without a trace from in front of Ning Fan’s eyes, and at the same time nine successive sonic booms of tearing through the air rang out.

This time, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint did not hesitate to pay the price and, in an instant, activated the Ant Man Evasion Technique nine times, teleporting nine times in one breath!

Although this technique requires no starting speed, the burden it places on the body is enormous. Using the Ant Man Evasion Technique to take nine steps in a single instant was the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint’s limit.

With nine consecutive steps, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint disappeared even faster and farther, causing Ning Fan’s secretly launched Heaven Sealing Art to lock onto nothing.

No matter how lightning-fast the Heaven Sealing Art’s strike is, it still requires a moment to act! But the Ant Man Evasion Technique requires absolutely no start-up and fundamentally isn’t something the Heaven Sealing Art can lock down!

"So it’s an ancient demon Flash Technique... To think that in a single day I’d see two different lost-level Divine Skills of the ancient demons... Unfortunately, you still can’t get away!"

Sizzle!

Ning Fan took one step and chased again, once more blocking the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint’s path in front of him!

This time, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint finally felt terror! Although he was only a pseudo–Quasi-Saint, his speed was definitely not slow. His speed in a single step, though not equal to a true Quasi-Saint, was not far off; the speed added up over nine steps absolutely surpassed that of an ordinary Quasi-Saint.

Yet his nine-step speed, comparable to that of a Quasi-Saint, was casually caught up to by a single step from Ning Fan, and that step of Ning Fan’s even required a small amount of charge time.

What a crushing blow this was!

His fastest possible speed, ignoring start-up, still couldn’t compare to Ning Fan’s casual step!

"Who exactly are you! To possess so many heaven-defying abilities, it’s impossible for you to be a nobody in this end-of-law world. Why has this General never heard of you!"

Sizzle!

In the instant he spoke, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint tried the same trick again, attempting to escape from Ning Fan’s sight, but this time the Ant Man Evasion Technique, which had always been infallible, failed!

He was actually locked down by Ning Fan’s Heaven Sealing Art!

"Impossible! My Escape Technique requires no start-up and is forever a cut faster than your pseudo–Reincarnation-Fixing Technique. How could you, acting later, lock me down first!" The Silver Armored Quasi-Saint could no longer remain calm; his expression changed drastically. With the difference in Mana between him and Ning Fan, he would need at least one breath to break free of Ning Fan’s Heaven Sealing Art, and within that one breath, Ning Fan would have enough time to smash a hundred punches into him!

Ning Fan naturally would not waste this precious breath of time explaining things to the enemy.

The Heaven Sealing Art’s activation speed is slower than the Ant Man Evasion Technique? So what! If I predict in advance the direction of your escape and act one step ahead, doesn’t that solve it!

Be it the Light Ant Clan’s Fusion Technique or this seemingly heaven-defying Ant Man Evasion Technique, in this world there has never been a Divine Skill without flaws.

Reverse Sea Sword, appear!

A sword light filled with the aura of ocean waves howled past, a single strike piercing through the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint’s body.

One breath of time passed!

The Silver Armored Quasi-Saint regained the ability to move, but he was spewing blood madly, severely wounded. The power of the Sky-hook Jade kept exploding from within his body, severely damaging his internal organs and making him suffer unbearable pain!

He was, after all, a pseudo–Quasi-Saint, and he had the Sky-Dueling Jade Umbrella empowering his offense and defense. Naturally he couldn’t be slain by a single strike of the Reverse Sea Sword.

But that one sword indeed injured him heavily; he was frightened now! He fled in panic again, once more using Nine Consecutive Flashes, yet again was blocked and locked down by Ning Fan on another flaming continent!

Another sword pierced through his physical defense!

His injuries worsened!

The Silver Armored Quasi-Saint fled again, Ning Fan chased again, and slashed again!

The Silver Armored Quasi-Saint tried to send messages for help, but all of his sound transmissions and spirit messages were blocked by Ning Fan, and even the duel fluctuations from every single sword strike were perfectly concealed by Ning Fan.

Ning Fan did not forget where this was—this was the deepest part of the Light Ant Clan’s nest, the Twelfth Layer of the Earth Abyss! If he did not suppress all movement here, there was no guarantee that other experts of the Light Ant Clan would not come to this man’s aid. At that time, he would no longer be certain of killing this man cleanly.

Quasi-Saints are extremely hard to kill; even a pseudo–Quasi-Saint is not so easy to take down.

After such a hunt lasting half an hour, the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint no longer knew whether Ning Fan had slashed him thousands or tens of thousands of times; there was not a single intact spot left on his entire body.

He could finally no longer maintain the Light Ant Fusion!

When the fusion separated, his body exploded apart, turning into several Light Ant Clan Immortal Emperors and Half-Saints, all on their last breath!

"This man cannot be fought head-on. We’ll split up and flee; whoever escapes, that’s one more who lives!"

The plans of these few Light Ant Clan experts were very beautiful.

But unfortunately for them, when they were fused together they were already being toyed with in Ning Fan’s palm; now that they had split apart, how could they possibly escape from under Ning Fan’s eyelids!

With a single Primordial Rainy Night Illusion Technique, Ning Fan dragged all those Light Ant Clan experts into the Illusion Technique World and wiped them out.

When they fused, they possessed Quasi-Saint strength, and Ning Fan would still have had to put in some effort; separated, their fate was nothing but being one‑shotted one by one.

Within the Illusion Technique World of Primordial Rainy Night, Ning Fan had long since interrogated those few Light Ant Clan experts and learned everything about how the Slime Monster had been captured.

That lump of Niba really had been taken away!

A meal’s favor must be repaid; even the slightest grudge must be avenged. That Slime Monster had at least cooked nearly seventy bowls of meat soup for him; he really could not just stand by and watch it die. He was still planning to tame this pet...

...

The instant the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint was killed, the entire Light Ant Clan was shaken to its core!

When the soul plates of the several Light Ant experts who had fused into the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint shattered at the same time, no Light Ant expert could remain calm. Even someone as strong as the Second Rank Quasi-Saint Yin Mu High Priestess had killing intent flicker in her beautiful eyes.

Who was it that actually dared to kill members of the Light Ant Clan!

Who was it that could actually kill the Light Ant Clan’s fusion Quasi-Saint!

"The prestige of the Saint Ant Sect cannot be violated! No mistake, the murderer is still on the twelfth layer, so it seems he is an accomplice of that Mud Demon! Transmit my sacrificial decree: the four Veins of the Saint Ant Sect shall temporarily set aside all grudges, and aside from the Ant Queen candidates, everyone will move out in full force to hunt down the red‑named madman!"

Within the Light Ant Clan, it was currently the time of the Ant Queen election. As a candidate for Ant Queen, Yin Mu High Priestess had to prepare for the coming struggle for the Ant Queen’s seat and could not spare attention to personally seize the murderer.

But this did not mean she would tolerate Ning Fan running wild on the twelfth layer!

Ant Art, Heavenly Fate Red Name Technique!

Yin Mu High Priestess did not hesitate to pay a small price to use this Divine Skill. Across the distance of countless flame continents, her slender ten fingers formed spirit sense seals again and again, afterimages fluttering.

At the same time, far away at an immeasurable distance, Ning Fan had just withdrawn from the Eternal True Body when he suddenly felt a gaze from the heavens fall upon him, and his expression changed!

Even more, countless crimson rays sprang from the void between heaven and earth, converging three feet above his Tian Ling, condensing into three blood‑red, dazzling characters!

[Kill Without Pardon]

Those three blood‑red characters were born from heaven and earth; no matter what methods Ning Fan used, he could not erase them. As long as those three blood characters hung above his head, Ning Fan felt he was constantly locked onto by the Light Ant Clan!

In the distance... it seemed that an endless stream of Light Ant Clan experts were following the guidance of those three blood characters and rushing toward Ning Fan to kill him.

No, it was not only Light Ant experts being drawn here by those three blood characters!

Wherever he looked, cracks would occasionally split open in the blazing ground of the fire‑land, and an endless tide of Corpse Puppets would burst out of the soil, their killing intent locking directly onto Ning Fan from across boundless distance.

The three blood characters above Ning Fan’s head were like the brightest morning star in a hazy night sky! Anyone could find him, yet on this Twelfth Layer of the Earth Abyss, he was unable to use spirit sense or Rain Technique Perception to sense dangers from afar...

"Looks like killing the Silver Armored Quasi-Saint really enraged some powerful existence of the Light Ant Clan. The opponent’s strength is far above mine, so without some special method, I simply can’t remove the blood characters above my head. Endless pursuit will descend in an instant; it seems there’s no way for me to cultivate quietly on this Twelfth Layer of the Earth Abyss," Ning Fan said with a sigh.

Couldn’t this little Niba wait until he finished all the cultivation for Mana Purity before causing trouble for him...

Forget it! Since there’s no way to keep a low profile, then let’s stir up a huge commotion!

"Eh! Young Friend Ning, why are you in this place..."

All of a sudden, a voice traveled over from far to near, flying in.

It was actually the Four Oceans Sect Quasi-Saint—Ancestor Leize’s voice!

As it turned out, after Ancestor Leize entered the Light Ancestor Abyss that day, he had searched layer by layer, scraping the ground clean in order to rescue Bei Xiao Man, yet he could not find any trace of her, nor could he find any trace of Ning Fan.

He had searched all the way to the twelfth layer and still had not found any clue about Bei Xiao Man’s whereabouts. But that was understandable: Bei Xiao Man had run off to make trouble at the All-Knowing Elder’s secret research base; how could he possibly find her?

One could well imagine how much pressure Ancestor Leize had been under these days. Bei Xiao Man’s significance to all of Ning Fan was extremely special; if Bei Xiao Man died in the Earth Abyss, there would certainly be many people secretly rejoicing, but quite a few old monsters from Ning Fan, including Ancestor Leize, would be left with a massive headache.

Bei Xiao Man must not die! He absolutely had to rescue that bratty girl! For Ning Fan’s survival!

But... where was Bei Xiao Man...

Ancestor Leize had been searching for nearly two months and had still not found Bei Xiao Man’s whereabouts, yet unexpectedly, on the twelfth layer he ran into Ning Fan.

When the blood characters appeared three feet above Ning Fan’s Tian Ling and the blood light shot into the heavens, Ancestor Leize happened to be the closest one to Ning Fan’s location and thus was the first to rush over.

He had thought that by following the blood light here, he could obtain some clues about Bei Xiao Man, but unexpectedly, on the twelfth layer he encountered Ning Fan...

"Senior Leize, why would you be in this place?" Ning Fan was also surprised; he had not expected to meet Leize on the twelfth layer.

"Ai, it’s a long story. Isn’t it all because of some damn girl who can’t be found no matter how I search, yet because her identity is special, this old man has no choice but to look for her... Hiss! The blood characters above your head, could it be..."

Ancestor Leize was still sighing when his gaze suddenly changed drastically!

He seemed to have been a bit slow on the uptake!

His reaction arc seemed a bit too long!

How had he only just now realized that there were such terrifying blood characters above Ning Fan’s head!

This, this, this... this was actually the Saint Ant Sect’s blood‑character Kill Without Pardon order!

What in the world had this kid done on the Twelfth Layer of the Earth Abyss! Could it be that he had openly gone to war with a colossal existence like the Saint Ant Sect! Was he insane! Did he not know that even a Quasi-Saint like himself had to bow his head and compromise before those people of the Saint Ant Sect! That was an existence that even the entire Light Clan could not handle; just what had this kid... hiss!

The slow‑to‑react Ancestor Leize finally noticed the corpses nearby!

They were the corpses of several Light Ant Clan Immortal Emperors and Half-Saints!

These corpses still bore traces of having been fused before death!

"You killed the Saint Ant Sect’s fusion Quasi-Saint! You actually killed the Saint Ant Sect’s fusion Quasi-Saint! That was... a Quasi-Saint!" Ancestor Leize’s face turned deathly pale in shock.

With this move, Ning Fan had really pierced a hole in the heavens!

If this matter was not handled properly, not only would he and Ning Fan be unable to walk out of the Earth Abyss alive, the entire Ning Fan might well suffer a great catastrophe because of it!