Chapter 287(1) - The Three Halls of the Star Palace
Chapter 287(1) The Three Halls of the Star Palace
Ning Fan kept the Golden Flame Chariot and the refined corpse of the black dragon. Then, he walked shoulder to shoulder with Lu Wan’er facing the group of demons in a steady and composed manner.
Upon seeing Ning Fan’s arrival, they all moved forward in unison and cupped their fists while their eyes flashed with reverence. If Ning Fan alone was able to cause all the Honorable Demon Generals to feel dreadful of him after killing Wang Xiao with his Wind Mist Finger, then the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm dragon corpse made them tremble in fear.
Especially the Earth General of the Lie Tu Tribe. He was the most welcoming among the Honorable Demon Generals. Because he once placed a bounty on Ning Fan’s head in order to hunt him down, he was now extremely worried about himself. As such, he spared no effort in pleasing Ning Fan in exchange for his life. Moreover, he even promised to hand over his territory in the north of the Vast Meadow which was tens of millions of li* to the Luo Yun Tribe. Hence, Ning Fan did not kill this man.
“Hehe, General Bei is finally here. We’ve been waiting for a long time. I heard that General Bei was touring the nine tribes in search of ancient formations. I don’t know what they could do. But if you need any help, I might probably be able to lend you a hand in gathering them.”
The nine Honorable Demon Generals welcomed Ning Fan together. Their actions paid enough respect to him.
Ning Fan cupped his fists and return a salute. He showed a lukewarm attitude and shook his head as a response to the Earth General’s bootlicking.
“Never mind. I am almost finished in collecting all the formation maps that I wanted to collect. You don’t need to worry about that.”
As for his purpose in collecting the formation maps, he just chuckled and did not truly reveal it. The Earth General understood Ning Fan’s implied meaning and stopped inquiring about it any further.
Ning Fan’s gaze swept across Lu Daochen and Lu Jiefen. The former gave him a suggestive smile while the latter immediately turned around and went back to the troops of the Pure Flame Tribe after greeting him.
Ning Fan kindly smiled back at the former and his expression became slightly solemn when he looked at the latter.
Ning Fan definitely knew what Lu Daochen was trying to imply. All the plans he had been formulating were all for today. Lu Daochen hoped that Ning Fan would keep his promise and rescue Demon General Lu Wu in the Third World.
But what made Ning Fan feel slightly concerned about was Lu Jiefen.
This man’s aura gave Ning Fan a strange feeling today…
In the past, Lu Jiefen who was a Late Divine Transformation Realm expert rarely had an equal opponent of the same cultivation level as him as he possessed the power of the Star of Bestowal. Despite that, he was still weaker than Wang Xiao, so there was nothing to worry about him.
The current Lu Jiefen, however, carried an extremely mysterious qi which was residing within his body. It actually made Ning Fan feel a sense of danger.
That qi was very familiar to him. He had felt it several times from the experts of the Demon Sealing Sect like Chuhe, Eagle Crane Elder and others.
It was a unique qi that could only be found on the members of the Demon Sealing Sect!
“As expected, Lu Jiefen definitely must be closely related to the Demon Sealing Sect. Today, he seems to have improved much of his power using some kind of secret technique… Apparently, the Pure Flame Tribe and the Demon Sealing Palace have been scheming for a long time now to obtain the Star of the Celestial Emperor.”
Ning Fan’s mind was filled with thoughts but his expression remained as usual…
The Secret Realm of the Broken World was first discovered by the Giant Devil Sect. However, it was then secretly reported by the Demon Sealing Sect to the Immortal Demon World. Only then did the members of the Land of Demons knew about it and sent demons to the mortal world in order to open the World Passages.
Demon Sealing1 Sect… , The two words “Demon Sealing” seemed to be hinting at something else.
The Demon Sealing Sect and the Pure Flame Tribe…
Ning Fan didn’t know what their plans were. However, since he had a lot of trump cards to protect himself, he was not afraid of the Demon Sealing Sect playing tricks on him.
Lu Jiefen…No matter what, I will definitely get the Star of the Celestial Emperor in the Third World!
Ning Fan shifted his gaze away and followed Lu Daochen to join the Luo Yun’s troops.
Today, although Lu Daochen was smiling, his expression had a hint of solemnness that was rarely seen.
“I shall entrust the matter regarding Demon Marshal Lu to you now!” Lu Daochen communicated with Ning Fan using telepathy.
He then slapped his storage pouch and handed over a silver jade box which was densely covered with dust to Ning Fan.
Ning Fan spread his spirit sense and his eyes widened slightly. Immediately, he kept the jade box.
What was tightly sealed inside was an ancient silver key .
He could tell that it was the Key of the Star Palace!
It was the most crucial thing in obtaining the Celestial Emperor Star. In actual fact, it was much more important than the map. Before the day the World Passage opens, Lu Daochen was obviously not rest assured in handing it over to Ning Fan.
However, what Lu Daochen could only do was to believe in Ning Fan. Therefore, he gave that precious item to Ning Fan and place it in his custody, hoping that he could keep his promise.
“Don’t worry!” Ning Fan replied. Even though he only uttered two words, they were loud and clear.
Ning Fan might be a temperamental and crafty person, but if the person he was dealing with did not betray him, he would never go against his words.
Lu Daochen nodded with satisfaction. He then lifted his head and looked at the illusory blood-red gate above the sky with mixed feelings.
“The World Passage is going to open…When the blood-red gate completely solidifies, you shall then combine the nine pieces of the map into one to draw out the qi of Demon Marshal Lu and activate this gate! With the Star Palace’s map, you will know about everything within… It’s all on you now!”
“Mm.”
After Ning Fan arrived, the sacrificial ceremony began.
Firstly, hundreds of thousands of demon beasts were killed on the formation map that had been established and used their blood as offerings. In their screams and shrieks of agony, their blood glowed, turning into rays of blood light and fused into the giant gate.
There were nearly one hundred flamens from each of the tribes at the scene and each and every one of them prostrated themselves on the ground and kowtowed towards a humongous statue of a six-legged golden beast that was situated at the center of the formation while chanting the ancient demon mantra.
Almost ten thousand offering vessels were arranged at the eyes of the formations. When the power of the formation rotated, every single one of them gave out vague white light.
A vast and powerful aura force spread out from the six-legged golden statue, encompassing the vicinity of hundreds of thousands of li*.
Under the tremendous aura force, every one of the Nascent Soul Realm experts felt it was hard to maintain their pose. Only when they bent their knees to the ground and worshipped the statue were they able to remove the aura force that was pressuring them. As for the Divine Transformation Realm Demon Generals, all of them could face that aura force without losing their composure.
However, when that aura force swept across Luo Yun’s troops, Ning Fan took a step forward. His purple star flashed, neutralizing the incoming force with a claw of his hand to protect Lu Wan’er from being affected by it.
That scene startled countless demon experts present… However, before they could even question what he had done, a heavy rumble suddenly reverberated from the sky. At this moment, the bloody giant gate was fully congealed and gradually split open into a gap!
However, the gate was not completely open was because it lacked the map!
Ning Fan realized that it was now time for him to act. However, he still remained at his position. He knew that once he enters the Third World after the World Passage is open, he would probably not be able to return to the Second World again. The next time he can reunite with Lu Wan’er again would be unknown.
“Go ahead… This time, the members of the Luo Yun Tribe who would enter the Third World would only be my master, brother and General Lu Ao. The other generals will stay in Luo Yun Province. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about my safety.”
Lu Wan’er might be smiling broadly on the surface, but her eyes contained a deep reluctance. She knew that the moment Ning Fan sets his foot into the Third World, it would be the moment the both of them would part from each other.
Forcibly, she resisted the urge to cry, but her shoulders were shivering.
“Hurry up and go! Must you see me cry first before you leave?!”
“If every hatred and enmity I have are finally settled… I’ll be back!”
Ning Fan’s eyes flashed with determination. Taking a step forward, he vanished into a cloud of purple smoke and flew into the sky!
Standing before the gate, he slapped his storage pouch and produced the nine map pieces.
The nine pieces of the incomplete map were originally broken and torn. However, when Ning Fan exerted his power on the map pieces on his hand, the torn marks on the map pieces disappeared as they formed into one.
Just as the map was completely assembled, a ray of golden light shot out from the map, shining on the giant gate.
The golden light carried a majestic aura force. Although it was not as strong as the six-legged golden statue, it was comparable to a Void Refinement Realm expert. At the moment the golden ray appeared, a golden mark surfaced on the foreheads of the nine Honorable Demon Generals at the same time. However, they disappeared in a flash.
“Demon Marshal Lu!” Lu Daochen’s eyes looked a bit misted as he uttered with excitement. The qi that he was feeling right now belonged to his previous master, Lu Wu!
As for the other Honorable Demon Generals, some of them seemed to be reminiscing their memories while some of them were sighing sentimentally. Among them, only Lu Jiefen revealed…a hint of greed in his eyes!
“If I successfully obtain the Star of the Celestial Emperor, my clone in the Pure Flame Tribe can definitely break through to the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm. Once I reunite it with my original body in the outer world… I can then break through to the Void Refinement Realm! When that time comes, I can dominate the entire Internal Endless Sea and be invincible among the nine tribes!”
At the moment when the golden marks on their foreheads disappeared, the giant door opened!
However, what they saw inside the giant gate was just a boundless realm of void!
In the space of emptiness, there were rays of starlight which congealed into a path. At the end of the path, it was connected to the Void Realm where a gigantic labyrinth was situated! It was a building made of starlight!
“What’s that?!”
Their countenances changed greatly. Each and every one of the demons felt shocked when they caught sight of the scene from the other side of the portal.
This is the Third World? Shouldn’t it be the land where the Demon Marshal is slumbering? Shouldn’t it be made up of wild lands and a giant egg where the Demon Marshal resides?
The Egg of Slumber was a self-sealing method displayed by the experts of the demon race. Through that method, one would be sealed within the egg without being able to cultivate. The egg was meant for one to slumber. However, it only had the heaven-defying effect of disregarding time. A lot of ancient demons who were awake after slumbering within the eggs for countless years could still maintain their original age.
Based on common sense, Demon Marshal Lu Wu should be slumbering in the demon egg.
However, what they saw in the Third World was not a demon egg but an empty world with only a maze made of starlight.
Why?! What had happened?!
Everybody including Prince Qu Shun, Imperial Concubine Zi and Lu Jiefen and the others were greatly surprised.
They didn’t understand why and there was no explanation. Behind Ning Fan, there were already 49 beams of light dashing to the sky and went right in the Third World.
At the scene, only Ning Fan and Lu Daochen who had already known the truth did not express any astonishment.
Ning Fan turned back and gave Lu Wan’er a final look. Then, with clenched fists, he turned around facing the portal and stepped into the star path!
At the moment he set his foot onto star path, he seemed to be guided by the starlight and was teleported to somewhere within the Star Palace somewhere.
The remaining 49 people set their feet onto the star path successively and were teleported to different places.
When the fiftieth person entered the portal, the giant gate was gradually closed.
“I can’t see him anymore…” Lu Wan’er could no longer forcibly hold her smile. She gently turned around and hid in a corner while tears began to stream down her cheeks.
“I’ll cultivate hard and diligently. I’ll improve my spirit augmentation technique to gain recognition from the Spirit King Palace and obtain the opportunity to become an immortal like my master…When that time comes, I will be the one who protects you and you won’t have to drift around without having anyone to depend on…Ning Fan, I’ll wait for you… You must stay safe…”