Chapter 1206: Chapter 1206: Madness of the Past!

Contrary to Ning Fan’s imagination, the fifteenth layer did not resemble a treacherous place, but rather looked like an idyllic paradise.

In sight was a fluorescent river flowing across the entire fifteenth layer, dividing the land into two banks: on the southern bank grew endless rows of orange trees, while on the northern bank were boundless zhi trees.

The rain finally stopped. Ning Fan put away his umbrella, gazing at the scene of southern oranges and northern zhi; his eyes flickered with azure light, then became solemn.

He took out the map of the fifteenth layer: both the orange woods on the south bank and the zhi woods on the north bank were marked with red symbols by the Slime Monster, indicating that these places were extremely perilous. The river running through the fifteenth layer was marked with arrows, meant for Ning Fan to follow the river, traveling by water, not by land.

"Are both sides of the fruit woods deadly places then..."

Ning Fan pondered for a long while, suddenly his figure flickered, and he flew to the south bank. The moment he stepped on the south bank, his gaze became lazy, seeing through worldly matters, and losing all interest in life!

Stepping onto the south bank, he found himself not wanting to move, unwilling to take another step. An absurd thought arose, wanting to become an orange tree, take root in the south bank, living here forever.

As the absurd thought manifested, his skin began to harden, showing signs of transforming into bark; his soles began to grow roots, burrowing into the soil of the south bank...

"Break!"

Suddenly, Ning Fan’s eyes shone with azure light, forcibly shattering his delusions, and without further hesitation, he flew away from the south bank, standing in mid-air.

As he flew away, all absurd thoughts vanished from his mind, and the transformation into a tree on his body disappeared.

"Is this the reason the southern bank is marked as a deadly place? If it were a less powerful practitioner, they might have been consumed by those delusions, forever turning into an orange tree, perishing here... If one rashly steps on the northern bank, it’s likely to be the same outcome... I once thought these orange and zhi woods were scenic, but now it seems these woods were likely transformed from creatures that died here..."

This method of murder was something Ning Fan encountered for the first time. Considering this place being formed from the Ant Lord’s bones and flesh, this southern oranges and northern zhi killing technique might be the work of the Ant Lord, though it’s equally possible these woods were crafted by the All-Knowing Elder, who could tell?

"So it seems I can only go by water..."

Curiously, just as Ning Fan decided to take the water route, a grasshopper boat drifted over the river, as if to ferry Ning Fan deeper into the fifteenth layer. Its appearance was so eerie, as if conjured by a thought of Ning Fan.

Ning Fan did not board the boat because this little grasshopper boat astonishingly had no bottom! Despite its ordinary appearance, Ning Fan’s intuition honed by life-and-death experiences sensed danger from this boat. Reckless boarding, especially with insufficient cultivations, could result in drastic consequences...

Thinking of this, he ignored the bottomless boat and chose to fly down the river himself. Expecting his flight to be as direct as the boat journey, yet after flying for three days, he still didn’t reach the end!

"Strange, even though I didn’t fly at full speed, I used at least seventy percent speed, but after three days, there’s still no end... This is seriously inconsistent with the map, the distance marked isn’t this far..."

Ning Fan intended to use his Ice Rain Technique, to glimpse how far the road ahead was, but just as it activated, clear light fell from the sky, extinguishing his technique.

The Ice Rain Technique was restricted in this realm!

Looking back at his path, there was no way back; the path he tread disappeared, leaving no shore to return to! This anomaly meant he couldn’t leave the fifteenth layer by the original path.

Amid these strange occurrences, Ning Fan ceased to recklessly press forward and hovered in mid-air, frowning in contemplation.

As if sensing Ning Fan’s dilemma, the bottomless boat appeared again at some point, drifting towards him.

"It seems that without some specific methods, it’s impossible to reach this river’s end... I can only board the boat."

Remaining cautious, Ning Fan descended onto the bottomless boat. Strangely, despite the lack of bottom, he could stand upon it solidly, truly marvelous.

Just as he planned to investigate the boat’s mystery, he felt an extraordinarily subtle anomaly in his body, something imperceptible to others but detected by Ning Fan’s superior senses!

Attempting to pinpoint the source, he was startled to find a forcible separation trend between his Spirit and physical defense!

Standing on the boat was merely his Spirit! His physical defense, mostly separated from his Spirit, was sinking into the river below, astonishingly unperceived by him just by being on the boat!

Luckily, his extraordinary perception alerted him. Had he realized later, his physical defense could’ve sunk into the river, eradicated by some unknown force within...

"You really can’t afford to be careless... Physical defense, return to me!"

Unleashing Ning Fan, his physical defense promptly returned, reuniting with his Spirit.

Seeing that Ning Fan wouldn’t cooperate with its sinking intentions, the bottomless boat seemed displeased! Ceasing its advancement, it resisted the river’s push, stationary in the river’s midst.

This scene conveyed that unless Ning Fan abandoned his physical defense, it wouldn’t move. Without this boat, the river’s end was unreachable; without it, exiting the fifteenth layer was impossible. It had the audacity to compel Ning Fan to yield!

For anyone else, unable to proceed or retreat, there’d be tension, but Ning Fan, having faced countless perils, wouldn’t be trapped by a mere bottomless boat.

This boat seems to have quite a temper.

Then let’s appease it a bit. Ning Fan always had a tolerant heart for strange and bizarre things.

[Won’t open! Won’t open! This boat will not ferry mortals! Without shedding the mortal coil, do not board! Get down! Quickly get down! Don’t understand the rules at all!] Ning Fan used the Communication with All Things skill and easily heard the voice of the Bottomless Boat. This was something others couldn’t achieve, but it wasn’t too difficult for Ning Fan.

"Boat brother, can’t you make an exception this once?"

[You can actually hear my voice! You... You must be a spirit!] The Bottomless Boat was shocked. Oh my, this fellow’s spirit awareness wasn’t low, being able to converse so clearly with Ning Fan.

Ning Fan’s eyes immediately lit up. Based on his previous experience, only something like the Netherworld Ghost Flower could converse with such high spirit awareness under Communication with All Things. Could it be that this broken boat was actually on the same level as the Netherworld Ghost Flower? Could it perhaps not be a broken boat, but a treasure boat?

"What if I am a spirit? And what if I am not a spirit?" Ning Fan smiled, neither admitting nor denying it.

[If you are a spirit, then this boat certainly cannot ferry you! Spirits are the enemies of our Immortal Spirit Clan! Hey! Little brother, you haven’t answered me yet, are you a spirit after all?] The Bottomless Boat nervously asked.

"Of course, I’m not a spirit." Ning Fan lied without blushing or his heart skipping a beat. If you’re not fooling anyone, how can you call yourself part of the Evil Sect?

[Phew, thank goodness you’re not a spirit, in that case, this boat doesn’t have to fear you. Little brother, you don’t understand, as a member of the Immortal Spirit Clan, what this boat fears most are spirits. Spirits are all bad! They naturally exert Bloodline Suppression over pure-blood Immortal Spirits and have the dominance of a superior being; they can even forcibly imprint a blood pact on pure-blood Immortal Spirits using their spirit blood. You don’t know how terrifying a blood pact is...] The Bottomless Boat seemed to not have chatted with anyone in many years. Once it found that Ning Fan could converse with it, it became quite talkative. It couldn’t help it, it had been holding back for too long over the years!

"Blood pact? What is that?"

[For you to converse with this boat, which is a pure-blood Immortal Spirit, you must also be a pure-blood Immortal Spirit, so how have you never heard of a spirit blood pact? In my time, it was impossible for a pure-blood Immortal Spirit not to know this. Ah, I forgot, I forgot, hahaha! See how this boat’s memory fades! The spirits have long been wiped out by our Immortal Spirit Clan! The times have changed! There shouldn’t be many pure-blood Immortal Spirits left either! Your elders probably thought it unnecessary to warn you about spirits anymore, which is why they didn’t instill the terror of spirit blood pacts in you.] The Bottomless Boat forcibly filled in the gaps in its head.

Ning Fan suddenly curved his mouth into an inexplicable smile, having an intuition that this Bottomless Boat might be a fool...

"Boat brother, you sure know a lot, even about spirit blood pacts. That’s remarkable." Ning Fan casually praised.

[Hahaha! Of course! This boat not only knows about spirit blood pacts, but I also know how to draw the blood pact inscriptions! My previous master taught me this! He was the Guiding Saint of the previous generation of Hunkun Holy Sect, and I served as his servant. What secrets wouldn’t I know? Spirit blood pacts are nothing!] The Bottomless Boat, having received a flattery from Ning Fan, floated with pride, unaware of its humble position, revealing secret after secret like they were free.

Hunkun Holy Sect? Previous generation’s Guiding Saint?

Ning Fan was somewhat interested in the previous generation’s Guiding Saint mentioned by the Bottomless Boat. But, of course, he was more intrigued by the spirit blood pact mentioned by the Bottomless Boat.

"Boat brother, you even know how to draw spirit blood pacts? That’s truly amazing, I’d really love to see how boat brother draws a blood pact."

[Hahaha! Sure, sure, if you want to see, I’ll draw it for you... er, no, that doesn’t work. I got carried away. My former master said, this is the Great Secret of Heaven and Earth. It shouldn’t be casually taught to outsiders. Besides, you’re not even a spirit, you wouldn’t be able to use a spirit blood pact even if you knew how to, it would be no use to you...]

"Outsider? Why would boat brother think I am an outsider, look, what is this?" Ning Fan maintained a calm appearance and took out the Reverse Sea Sword.

The Reverse Sea Sword, also known as the [Sword of the Superior Disciple of Hunkun Holy Sect], was the identification of the Hunkun people! One must not be a Hunkun disciple to wield the sword; holding the sword was the legitimacy of a Hunkun disciple! It was recognized by others as their identity!

[Oh dear! Little boat did not recognize a Mountain Tai for what it is, it turns out senior is a Superior Disciple of Hunkun Holy Sect! Apologies, too many apologies!] The Bottomless Boat suddenly cowered, as if Ning Fan’s special identity was not something it dared to offend.

"Now, can boat brother draw the spirit blood pact for me?" Ning Fan smiled.

[Of course! Definitely! But I must remind the senior of one thing! The spirit blood pact is too dangerous; you don’t understand. Once a spirit blood pact forcibly imprints a contract, the person is unable to detect it! Since ancient times, countless pure-blood Immortal Spirits have unknowingly been secretly planted with this contract and, without realizing it, have their nature altered, becoming obedient to the spirit master of the contract...]

The Bottomless Boat, while explaining the horrors of the spirit blood pact, operated its Divine Skills, causing ripples to form on the river surface. The ripples expanded circle by circle and then condensed circle by circle, eventually forming an extremely complex contract inscription pattern.

That was the inscription of the spirit blood pact.

With just one glance, Ning Fan memorized the spirit blood pact inscription pattern. Then... he bit his fingertip and squeezed out a drop of spirit blood, flicking it towards the Bottomless Boat.

As soon as the blood touched the boat’s body, it immediately transformed into the spirit blood pact inscriptions, imprinting on the boat’s body. Moments later, the inscriptions disappeared, seeming to evaporate into the air. In reality, they penetrated the deepest consciousness of the Bottomless Boat.

[Unbelievable! Senior truly is a genius! Memorizing such a complex inscription pattern after just one look!] The Bottomless Boat wasn’t overly concerned about Ning Fan’s act of dripping blood on it, dismissing it merely as Ning Fan trying out the spirit blood pact he had just learned.

But in fact, Ning Fan had already dripped blood to recognize it as his master... and it didn’t even know! Completely unaware!

"Hehe, there’s no need for flattery, this inscription pattern is actually not complicated, I just happen to excel in this field."

[No, no, no! Isn’t it only natural for a servant to flatter their master? Eh, how strange, why do I address you as master...] The Bottomless Boat felt somewhat baffled, not realizing that the spirit blood pact had already taken effect, subtly altering its consciousness.

"Alright, enough chatting. Boat brother, let’s get going." Ning Fan urged.

Strangely enough.

The Bottomless Boat, which was supposed to be highly principled, only ferried Saints and not mundane mortals. Yet, with Ning Fan’s command, it obediently complied, carrying Ning Fan all the way downstream.

No longer showing a bit of temper! Completely in a manner that was obedient and compliant!

The Bottomless Boat couldn’t perceive that it had been affected by the spirit blood pact. Even if it later developed suspicions about the matter, all doubts would be erased by the power of the blood pact.

It will never realize this matter!

The Divine Spirit Blood Pact is truly domineering and terrifying! But unfortunately, this technique is only effective on Pureblood Celestials; for other beings, it has no use at all, very targeted...

"No wonder the Divine Spirit Clan was overthrown, their existence seriously threatened the survival of other clans..." Ning Fan sighed inwardly.

Unexpectedly learning the Divine Spirit Blood Pact, unexpectedly acquiring the Bottomless Boat, one must say, Ning Fan’s luck has been rather good recently. However, he was not overly excited, because such a thing as the Divine Spirit Blood Pact is not very practical, only effective on Pureblood Celestials, virtually useless in the era Ning Fan is in, and can only be used to bully the Bottomless Boat.

As for acquiring the Bottomless Boat, Ning Fan was not too excited either. This boat seems to be merely an Innate Lower Grade Treasure; a magical treasure of this grade, even if picked up for free, doesn’t seem like a big deal.

Ning Fan underestimated the power of the Bottomless Boat, at first, he simply regarded it as a means of transportation on this layer; after leaving this place, he thought he wouldn’t need the Bottomless Boat anymore.

But he was wrong!

Though the Bottomless Boat’s magical treasure level is indeed not high, it is not just any ordinary item.

This treasure can actually help one become a Saint! To achieve sainthood, one must first undergo transformation! Ning Fan previously falling into the river was actually a form of transformation, but unfortunately, his realms are far from the checkpoint of becoming a saint, it’s still too early to transform now. Forcing transformation would only cause him to lose his physical defense for nothing without any benefits.

A treasure that can help people transform and become saints can be sold for a sky-high price in the Real Realms even if its grade is not high! The Ant Lord became a saint back then and didn’t hesitate to use the Bottomless Boat for help, who knows how much effort she spent to steal a Bottomless Boat from the Hunkun Holy Sect! Yet now it was easily acquired by Ning Fan, who almost spent no effort, just a few tricks, and the Bottomless Boat was deceived into his possession.

If the Ant Lord were aware, she would undoubtedly be furious.

Of course, the Bottomless Boat doesn’t only have the ability to help people become saints, it also boasts "no water uncrossable," meaning there’s no river, lake, or sea it cannot sail through.

Here’s a real example! The river on the Fifteenth Layer is affected by the Ant Lord’s Divine Skills, ordinary people would never reach the end. But for the Bottomless Boat, this is not a problem! Such a small difficulty does not hold it back, it can easily break through the magic and sail to the end of the river effortlessly!

With the Bottomless Boat paving the way, in just one day and night, Ning Fan arrived at the end of the river, where before him lay a mountain!

A mountain of Dao!

A mountain formed by the accumulation of the Ant Lord’s Daoist Thought, its height immeasurable!

"It’s actually a mountain of Dao! Seems like what Little Niba wants is at the summit of the mountain!"

Ning Fan stood at the bow of the Bottomless Boat, at the end of the river, looking at the Ant Lord’s immeasurable Saintly Dao Mountain, feeling like an ant shaking a tree.

This is the Dao of a Saint!

Ning Fan felt it difficult to breathe, this mountain of Dao, too heavy! It’s not the weight in the material sense, but the weight on the level of the Great Dao!

Just by facing this mountain, Ning Fan felt his entire Daoist Thought uncontrollably wanting to prostrate on the ground, wanting to climb to the summit seems even harder!

[Master, don’t climb this mountain of Dao! Not only does the mountain of Dao seal some of the Ant Lord’s belongings, but it also seals part of her scattered soul.] The Bottomless Boat immediately advised seeing Ning Fan’s desire to climb.

It completely didn’t realize what was inappropriate about calling Ning Fan master, the influence of the Divine Spirit Blood Pact was too great!

"Scattered soul? What’s that?" Ning Fan asked.

[Saint’s Soul Dispersion is undying, it’s a scattered soul.] The Bottomless Boat replied.

"Can’t quite understand. Well, when I climb this mountain, I’ll naturally know what scattered soul means."

Ning Fan did not heed the Bottomless Boat’s advice, he used Divine Skills to transform the Bottomless Boat into a small boat, and stored it in the Xuan Yin Realm Treasure Vault, evidently regarding this Bottomless Boat as his private property.

He didn’t follow the Bottomless Boat’s advice, not out of ignorance of the danger here. His actions have always been consistent with his words. Since he promised to help the Slime Monster, he won’t abandon it halfway.

No matter if the path ahead is perilous or if a Saint’s Soul Dispersion obstructs, it won’t change his principles!

At the same time Ning Fan stepped onto the Ant Lord Dao Mountain, far on the Sixth Layer of the Earth Abyss, the All-Knowing Elder finally finished assembling the last component of the Stone Warrior puppet, completely refitting Bei Xiao Man’s Stone Warrior Grandfather.

"You made my cultivations progress greatly, but I won’t thank you!" The Stone Warrior puppet deeply wary looked at the All-Knowing Elder.

"Hehe, the old man doesn’t act for your gratitude but for the agreement with Young Friend Ning. He let me experiment, I do some small things for him, a fair trade, that’s all. Alright, alright, I’m not going to bicker with you, go find that little Evil Sect, Bei Xiao Man, yourself! I’ve been busy all this time, I should check on Young Friend Ning’s training data now. Wonder what Young Friend Ning has been cultivating all this time, I arranged for Elephant Brother to guide him in training, hoping Elephant Brother would impart the training insights of [limiter of his physical strength]. Elephant Brother has taught for so many days, that kid’s physical strength should have increased quite a bit, right? His foundation is quite good, cultivating to extreme strength would definitely boost his power." The All-Knowing Elder laughed.

The All-Knowing Elder excitedly sought out the Elephant Demon for questioning, assuming Ning Fan had been training strength training with the Elephant Demon.

But he was wrong!

Ning Fan had not been training strength these days, but working on Mana Purity instead! He was not training with the Elephant Demon, but was arranged by the Elephant Demon to train together with the Slime Monster.

"Nonsense! You actually arranged for Young Friend Ning to be transported to the Twelfth Layer of the Earth Abyss! Do you know how dangerous it is there? That’s the main camp of the Light Ant Clan! If he gets killed by the Light Ants, where will I find such precious experimental material again!" The All-Knowing Elder was furious, more so with concern for Ning Fan, a concern that wasn’t merely for the experimental material, but also a kind of emotion even he hadn’t realized, buried deep within!

"Master doesn’t know, the subordinate had already informed him of the dangers of the Twelfth Layer beforehand. It was that boy who insisted on going..." Elephant Demon was somewhat terrified, he had never seen the master so angry!

No, he actually had seen it once!

That day, a certain Ant Saint grew greedy and tried to devour the Great Chun Tree that the master had guarded for years!

That day, in a furious rage, the master ignored the warnings of the current Ancestor Hongjun, went his own way, fought among peers, forcibly suppressed the Ant Lord, and offended all ancient sects of the Mountain and Sea Realm!

In a trance, the Elephant Demon seemed to see that mad figure again, the rebellious Demon Crane who dared to defy the world!

[What is the Ant Lord! What is Hongjun! No one can harm my junior brother! Not even the Heavenly Healer!]

[Who dares harm half a branch of the Great Chun, kill them all!]

The master’s roar from back then still gripped the Elephant Demon’s heart!

He missed those days of following the master’s passionate life, just for a belief daring to defy Heaven, without letting down the young one’s head!

But as time passed, he eventually grew old, and the master was no longer the rebellious Demon Crane from back then, but had become an elder, secluded in the Zidou Illusion Realm, escaping from the world, indulging in worldly pleasures.

This is not so bad, as long as the master is happy, the Elephant Demon is willing to bury his nature, living such a mundane life, occasionally doing experiments. But... is the master truly happy like this? Can’t remember even who he is, almost forgetting the sect he once regarded as life... is he truly happy!

"Shut up! I don’t want to hear any explanations now! I only want Ning Fan alive, he must live! Light Ant Clan? Saint Ant Sect? They’re merely my toys! If they dare harm Ning Fan, even in the slightest, I’ll obliterate their entire clan, even if it means the Ant Lord will awaken again, I will not hesitate!"

Hiss!

The All-Knowing Elder stopped talking to the Elephant Demon, activated the Teleportation Formation, and directly transferred to the Twelfth Layer of the Earth Abyss!

According to the Elephant Demon, Ning Fan supposedly should be cultivating on this layer, but... why is there no trace of Ning Fan here!

Could it be, could it be... while he was foolishly assembling Stone Warrior puppets, Ning Fan had already... been killed by those Light Ant vile creatures...

No!!!

Master said to protect the junior brother well!

No one can harm my junior brother!

No one... absolutely!

"You ants, give me an explanation! Otherwise, I’ll slaughter your entire clan! Aaahhhh! Give me back my junior brother! Give back my junior brother aaaaahhh! Hongjun I’ll kill you! Kill you!"

The All-Knowing Elder went mad!

His eyes were blood-red, yet tears of regret flowed! He couldn’t distinguish between reality and memories, his rationality had been replaced by anger and regret!

He didn’t protect the junior brother well! He... failed the master’s trust once again!

Aaahhhh!

He roared at the sky, the power contained in that roar seemingly about to pierce through the Twelfth Layer of the Earth Abyss, even the Ant Lord’s spine world couldn’t withstand the All-Knowing Elder’s rage!

The entire Light Ant Clan was in chaos!

No one expected the All-Knowing Elder to attack at this moment! No one expected... the All-Knowing Elder, who mingled among the Light Ancestor Abyss like a madman, to erupt all his cultivations, was such a world-destroying power!

Tremble!

The dignified Second-Grade Quasi-Saint Yin Mu, at this moment, was actually trembling! She couldn’t understand! How could the All-Knowing Elder have such terrifying cultivation! Didn’t the All-Knowing Elder once act like an idiot, being captured and suppressed by her many times... Could it be, this person had never used his true cultivation before, but was purposely captured by her just to play?

"Damn it! This old madman is truly acting insane this time! The Thirteenth Spine matter is temporarily on hold, the danger level of this old madman has exceeded my understanding! Issue my order, the entire clan assemble, prepare to battle the All-Knowing one! He’s coming soon! No one must underestimate him, this madman is by no means of the usual prowess, he’s on par with any ancient great cultivator! He’s been playing dumb, ridiculing us!"

An order was issued, spreading through the Light Ant Clan, the entire Light Ant Clan instantly entered the highest alert, and then...

The All-Knowing Elder appeared in the sky above the Light Ant Clan Holy City, with an icy, merciless gaze, standing with hands behind his back, looking down upon the world like ants!

"I have only one request, if you can’t fulfill it, all of you must die! Give me back my junior brother... now!"