After reclaiming Water Moon Pass, Ning Fan didn’t immediately proceed to reclaim the next pass but decided to stay temporarily within Water Moon Pass.

The cultivators guarding Water Moon Pass beforehand had long been devoured clean by the Shade-Equine Clan, leaving behind only scattered bones across the land, overgrown with weeds, exuding an indescribable desolation.

All around the pass, there were no less than a million insect eggs in sight. This place, after months of being overrun, had been turned into a nest for insect eggs by the different race.

Each of these insect eggs could hatch countless juvenile Shade-Equine Clan. If a Fate Immortal cultivator was careless and broke an egg, a swarm of tiny dark green insects the size of ants would immediately crawl out and devour the unfortunate Fate Immortal cultivator on the spot, leaving behind nothing but white bones in the blink of an eye, rendering others unable to intervene in time...

These Shade-Equine Clan larvae were not difficult to kill, as they were merely in the juvenile stage and weren’t strong. Even an ordinary Fate Immortal cultivator could easily use spell and cause mass killings.

What amazed everyone was the sheer number of these larvae!

A single giant egg could hatch tens of thousands of larvae; the entire Water Moon Pass had no less than a million giant eggs...

If all giant eggs within the pass hatched, how many larvae would be born?

If these larvae were fortunate to survive and grow, how many powerhouses of other races could be created?

No wonder the different race always seemed inexhaustible in their invasions, for their reproductive ability was indeed terrifying... 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Ning Fan had no intention of giving these Shade-Equine Clan larvae a chance to hatch and grow, so the first thing he did upon entering the pass was to gather and bury the scattered bones of the cultivators within the pass and incinerate all the insect eggs inside the pass.

After clearing all the insect eggs, Ning Fan commanded his subordinates to rebuild Water Moon Pass, repairing the collapsed walls, restoring damaged formations, and reconstructing the formation connections between Water Moon Pass and Taiyuan Crossing.

A large amount of work required time to complete, and Ning Fan estimated that he would need to stay at Water Moon Pass for at least several days before he could depart for the next pass.

Fortunately, these reconstruction tasks did not require Ning Fan to do them personally, as he had brought his subordinates to handle them. The only task he had was to guard this pass until the formations at Water Moon Pass were completely restored!

Ning Fan sat cross-legged above Water Moon Pass, on the clouds. Occasionally, some sporadic different race broke through the waters, all were obliterated by his casual Reverse Sea Sword Light.

Blood water flowed into the rivers surrounding the pass, dyeing the waters a bloody red.

Upon eradicating the invading different race, Ning Fan would casually toss the primordial spirits and demon souls of some strong individuals among the different race into the Refining God Cauldron, refining them into the Blood of Ten Thousand Spirits for consumption.

During his insights, Ning Fan would sometimes summon the Sun, Moon, and Stars Two Steles from within the Xuan Yin World. These are innate treasures left by Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor within the Xuan Yin World, officially recognized master during the decades Ning Fan awaited revenge from the Dark Clan.

The Sun Moon Stele and Stars Stele were both low-grade innate treasures, but if the two steles were combined, their power could even rival some powerful mid-grade innate treasures.

This became the third mid-grade innate treasure Ning Fan obtained.

The World Bottle had terrifying killing power, but due to its indiscriminate damage, it was unsuitable for use in occasions where there were many companions around.

The Primordial Thunder Cauldron, once its divine skill opened, could blind even Immortal Emperors’ eyes and crush spirit sense, also belonging to indiscriminate range damage, unsuitable for many occasions.

Instead, the Sun, Moon, and Stars Steles, which belonged to a type of single-target treasure, were more suitable for usage in this place at this time.

With Ning Fan’s current cultivation, officially recognizing ownership of the Sun Moon Stars Steles wasn’t a difficult task. Within the steles, the Divine Skills of Void Stripping Path from Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor were integrated, capable of seizing divine skills after killing.

Female cultivation can seize divine skills.

Stele kills masters, can seize divine skills.

In reality, the supreme techniques of Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor all contained the mystery of Void Stripping Path. The higher the realm, the more Ning Fan could feel the extraordinary talent of Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor.

Ning Fan was very interested in Void Stripping Path. Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor once said Ning Fan could comprehend Void Stripping Path by insight from Sun Moon Stars Steles, and indeed did not deceive Ning Fan. Over the years, Ning Fan spent considerable time gaining insights from the Sun Moon Stars Steles, understanding this heaven-defying divine skill more and more.

One walks the world and must leave footprints.

On muddy beaches or dusty snow, footprints are left, and on rocks and steel, prints are also left.

Some footprints can be seen with the naked eye, while others cannot be seen.

But being unseen does not mean nonexistent.

Cultivators cultivating Dao are the same. Learned spells and divine skills first leave memories within the divine sense, and similarly leave memory within the body’s blood and flesh.

Void Stripping Path, by killing to seize spells and divine skills, what it actually seizes is the bodily memory deeply hidden within the cultivator’s blood and flesh...

On the journey of slaughtering different race, Ning Fan seized massive spell memories through Void Stripping Path, restoring over three hundred complete different race spells, and countless incomplete spells.

Not merely by killing can perfect acquire opponents’ spells; there are restrictions of timing and geographical location, but the decisive factor is actually the cultivator’s understanding of the Void Stripping Path and proficiency.

Despite Ning Fan’s high comprehension, due to rarely using Void Stripping Path, his proficiency was still very low. Currently, in seizing a hundred spells, at most only one or two spell divine skills are completely intact; the rest are all incomplete and useless.

Learning is to imitate, to use analogies, and to create personal things.

The great Dao is simple, returning to simplicity.

At the Empire Sealing Ceremony, Ning Fan condensed all his escape technique learning into a simple step, hence his speed surpassed most of his peers at the same level.

He distilled his learning into a simple Cross Halo, causing the Cross Halo to be fearsome and revered worldwide.

The Ancient Demon Mountain-Shattering Strike is powerful because it discards all divine skill variations, concentrating all power into a simple punch, fully exerting the Ancient Demon Annihilation Dao. With Dao controlling the punch, the effect is naturally superior to ordinary fist techniques. That casual punch seems simple, yet the essence of critical and consecutive strikes is something numerous Immortal Emperors exhaust their lifetimes unable to comprehend.

Before sealing the emperor title, Ning Fan’s attitude towards divine skills and spells was "the more, the better; the stronger, the better"; now, it is "the simpler, the purer, the closer to Dao the better."

The divine skills acquired will not be deeply practiced by Ning Fan, only comprehended for their essence, which he will integrate into his own divine skills.

Then, streamline simplicity...

Having integrated the essence of over a hundred complete divine skills from the different race, Ning Fan’s Cross Halo shed several ink marks, yet the variations in attack within the halo increased instead, with power marginally improving.

Ink marks appear and disappear around his body, seeming eerie, those Eastern Celestial Cultivators familiar with the Cross Halo’s fearsome reputation, observing ink marks flicker, felt some awe.

Fiendgods, ancient demons, ancient chaos, Blood Lightning four strains of cultivation like streams flowed in Ning Fan’s body, finally converging at the primordial spirit in the Dantian like a river entering the sea, causing a qualitative change. His cultivation clearly never reached Immortal King, just at Immortal Venerable level, yet after the qualitative change from quantity to quality, his mana was as thick as Four Calamity Immortal King, causing amazement among countless masters here.

Divine Spirit Sea of Consciousness, Divine Spirit Primordial Spirit, Divine Spirit Body with the nourishment from Blood of Ten Thousand Spirits, slightly strengthened like grains of sand accumulating, not knowing when they might form a tower of sand.

While Ning Fan was deep in cultivation insights, suddenly a giant whirlpool appeared outside Water Moon Pass.

A thousand-zhang-size giant whirlpool spontaneously appeared above the Boundary River, and at the moment this whirlpool appeared, the sky surrounding Water Moon Pass suddenly turned sinisterly terrifying, wind and thunder roaring, torrential rain pouring.

Moreover, a pressure so heavy it couldn’t be described suddenly surged from underwater, enveloping every cultivator within the pass in an instant.

Countless masters gasped in shock because this suddenly emerging pressure was actually Immortal Emperor level pressure!

Could there be a different race Immortal Emperor attacking here?!

For a brief moment, all cultivators lost the urge to rebuild within Water Moon Pass, instead felt they faced a formidable enemy, drawing weapons and treasures into the highest alert state.

Who dares to underestimate an Immortal Emperor!

Immortal Emperors are the pinnacle existence of the Era of Decline!

"Don’t panic, the opponent is just a Sixth Calamity Immortal Emperor, let me handle it alone. You all continue rebuilding Water Moon Pass, do not get involved in this battle!" Ning Fan’s voice instantly resonated within Water Moon Pass, employing the power of War Yin and Yang in his words, settling the hearts of some cultivators fearing the different race, returning them to calm.

Merely a Sixth Calamity Immortal Emperor... such an arrogant tone.

However, when these words came out of Ning Fan’s mouth, they surprisingly carried a convincing weight for everyone. This was because Ning Fan had killed an Immortal Emperor before and even defeated Chonghe without using the Cross Halo. With such confidence, he could utter these words!

"Do not panic, follow the Vice General’s orders, and continue with your duties!"

"With the Vice General present, what do we have to fear from the different race!"

In an instant, the morale at Water Moon Pass solidified, as if the incoming other race powerhouses were not as undefeatable as Immortal Emperors.

"Haha, interesting, really interesting. Despite me releasing the pressure of an Immortal Emperor, it doesn’t scare any of you Eastern Heaven ants. You’re a brave bunch."

Rumble!

A gigantic dragon, engulfed in dark green flames, suddenly burst forth from the whirlpool, soaring skyward. Its massive body seemed to obscure all the light between heaven and earth in an instant!

"Is it the Shade-Equine clan again? No, that’s not right. This person’s bloodline seems to be of a higher rank within the Shade-Equine clan... calling himself the Ancestor, could he be an existence akin to the Ancestor of the Shade-Equine clan..."

A flash of azure light flickered in Ning Fan’s eyes, and he instantly saw through all the illusions of the great dragon. Rising from the clouds, Ning Fan, without wasting words, immediately summoned the Reverse Sea Sword and slashed at the dragon.

Long Que had just emerged from the water and hadn’t anticipated that the Eastern Celestial Cultivator would attack immediately and without warning. In his haste, he was struck in the dragon’s abdomen by Ning Fan’s sword, emitting the loud clash of gold against iron.

Though painful, Long Que’s flaming dragon scales were so formidable that they bore no trace of damage from the Reverse Sea Sword.

Roar!

Though not injured, Long Que was infuriated by Ning Fan’s abrupt attack, his dragon eyes turning bloodshot!

In all his years, he had never encountered such a brute and overbearing Eastern Celestial Cultivator who dared to attack him without uttering a word.

The most laughable part was, the one attacking him wasn’t an Eastern Heaven Immortal Emperor, but merely an Eternal Immortal Venerable...

Very good, what has come to this, when even an Eastern Heaven Immortal Venerable dares to be so disrespectful toward me!

Upon further inspection, there wasn’t an Immortal Emperor present throughout Water Moon Pass; other than the audacious Ning Fan, there were only four Immortal Venerables, which took him by surprise.

He had left quickly earlier, not hearing the investigations of other dragons, and assumed that an Eastern Heaven Immortal Emperor had come to Water Moon Pass to massacre all his Shade-Equine clan descendants.

Now it seems he was mistaken... these Eastern Celestial Cultivators managed to annihilate the Shade-Equine clan with only four Immortal Venerables; they likely used some cunning strategy to deceive Water Moon Pass.

"This Ancestor hasn’t been provoked by Immortal Venerable ants in many years. How reckless. You seem to be the leader of these ants, so this Ancestor will first kill you, then slaughter the rest!" said the other race entity capable of speaking human tongue!

Then... the great dragon swung its tail!

Ning Fan only felt darkness before him, as a dragon’s tail larger than mountains and ablaze with dark green flames swept toward him with immense force, seemingly capable of shattering the entire universe.

Though formidable in its approach, this attack didn’t rank among the strongest of the Immortal Emperors Ning Fan had faced. Therefore, Ning Fan only recalled the Reverse Sea Sword to his hand, blocked the dragon’s tail head-on, staying rooted in place, relying on his physical defense to ward off the mighty dragon tail effortlessly.

Aside from some minor numbness in his palm, there was nothing amiss. Thus, Ning Fan got a sense of the power disparity between him and the giant dragon.

The dragon was slightly stronger, but not by much, and still within his tolerance range.

However, those dragon scales were indeed formidable. This was something he had tested in the brief exchange. With the inherent sharpness of the Reverse Sea Sword, it couldn’t breach the dragon scale’s defense; but if he were to utilize other traces of force...

"Hmm? What tremendous strength this boy possesses," Long Que lightly exclaimed, surprised that his dragon tail strike, never before blocked by an Immortal Venerable, was now deflected.

Just when he thought of exerting more force for another swing, sudden intense pain emanated from his dragon tail, causing Long Que to cry out tragically and be greatly alarmed.

Ning Fan swung his sword again, severing half of Long Que’s dragon tail! How was this possible!

The previous slashes hadn’t pierced through his dragon scales, so why this time... It seems... this boy’s sword is infused with many different traces!

In a flash of light, the severed tail reattached to the dragon’s body. The wound healed instantly, peculiarly immune to tearing damage, rendering slashing somewhat ineffective.

Ning Fan felt a slight heaviness. Just as he was about to act, the great dragon roared, spewing scorching dragon breath to temporarily push him back.

The dragon’s breath was formidable; casual Immortal Emperors dared not face it directly. Ning Fan, not manifesting his Eternal True Body at the moment, naturally didn’t plan to take it head-on and instead opted to evade for now.

Retreating, Ning Fan put away the Reverse Sea Sword and spewed a black fire, transforming it into an endless sea of flames to enshroud the great dragon.

The great dragon instinctively showed disdain.

As an aquatic breed, he mastered both water and fire from birth, harboring innate dragon fire, so why fear a fire attack?

Had he not cultivated the innate dragon fire, how could his breath hold such intense and potent heat?

"Swallow!"

Confident in his unparalleled flame attack, Long Que protected his body with innate dragon fire and brazenly began devouring the flames that surrounded him.

If facing an ordinary Eternal Immortal Venerable, such behavior wouldn’t be problematic, but Ning Fan was no ordinary Eternal Immortal Venerable, and his fire was indigestible!

It was simply unfortunate that Ning Fan’s black fire had perfectly merged with innate thunder, masking its original innate nature, leading Long Que to underestimate it as mere ordinary flames.

Had he known this fire was also of innate grade, not even his arrogance would compel him to consume it. Yet, he was unaware...

With just a gulp of the black fire, Long Que let out a cry of pain, regurgitating all he swallowed, his organs scorched, his aura somewhat diminished, filled with rage.

The rage stemmed from being burned by such an insignificant Immortal Venerable!

The shock arose from the eerie peculiarity of Ning Fan’s black fire, reminiscent of the legendary peerless Calamity Beast Fire, yet imbued inexplicably with thunder attributes, giving off a sense of ambiguity.

What kind of fire is this!

I don’t believe it could be more powerful than my innate dragon fire! Unbelievable!

[Fire Avoidance Art]!

Long Que chanted the true technique, the Shui clan’s special skill against fire. As the incantation was uttered, Ning Fan’s black fire couldn’t touch him anymore, utterly bizarre.

Ning Fan narrowed his eyes. Stabbing was ineffective against Long Que, but fire attacks seemed effective...

Thinking of this, Ning Fan’s fingers flicked rapidly through spirit sense signs. The black fire, forced back by Long Que, instantly transformed into thick ropes of lightning, descending again, coiling around Long Que.

Though Long Que’s incantation could fend off the fire attacks, if the fire primarily used thunder, it could bypass the Fire Avoidance Art’s barrier.

Indeed, Ning Fan’s current black fire was no ordinary flame, but a perfect fusion of innate demon fire and innate thunder, forming a new entity, [Flame Thunder]!

Flame Thunder, long considered a mythical entity, only exists through the perfect union of innate-level thunder and fire. Thunder and fire are two distinctly violent forces. While a powerful cultivator might forcibly blend them, achieving less than the sum of their parts, a genuinely harmonious fusion was deemed impossible especially when reaching the innate tier—unfathomable even for an Immortal Emperor.

As a Yin-Yang Variant Cultivator, Ning Fan could seamlessly create Flame Thunder, unleashing combined powers that exceeded their standalone total.

Long Que’s Fire Avoidance Art could certainly block the flame attribute of Flame Thunder, but not the thunder aspect.

Ensnared by the lightning ropes, Long Que’s expression changed dramatically. If he couldn’t recognize Flame Thunder now, he would have lived in vain. Despite repeatedly contorting his massive body, he couldn’t shake off the binding thunder ropes and was bewildered to find his mana gradually sealing.

This was because Ning Fan slightly imitated the Prison Thunder Rope when using the Thunder Rope...

Seeing that he couldn’t escape the rope, Long Que’s gaze turned cold, and he suddenly exploded his giant dragon body. Flesh scattered across heaven and earth, but instantly gathered again, reforming his enormous dragon form.

Before Long Que could celebrate his escape from the rope’s attack, two giant steles suddenly descended from the sky, smashing into his giant body and causing him to vomit blood wildly.

Long Que looked intently, hardly able to believe that this scene was real. The ones that injured him were actually two innate treasures, and they seemed to be part of a set!

How could an Eternal Immortal Venerable possess two innate treasures? Could this be the descendant of a Quasi-Saint?

"Hurry!"

Ning Fan didn’t give Long Que more time to think, and with an order, the twin steles smashed towards Long Que again, scaring him into a swift retreat, not daring to withstand the combined attack of the Sun Moon Stars Stele.

He narrowly dodged the attack of the Sun Moon Stars Stele, but was then struck by flame thunder in Ning Fan’s Thunder Palm which severed his dragon neck and knocked off his dragon head. Although the dragon head quickly reattached itself from afar, he still suffered some burns under Ning Fan’s Thunder Palm attack!

Dammit! Not only did this boy have two sets of innate treasures, he also had such terrifying flame thunder, even using Thunder Palm could hurt him!

What is Thunder Palm?

Thunder Palm is the lowest level Divine Skill that all first step Golden Core experts know, the lowest level lightning technique in the world!

Even as a dignified Immortal Emperor, he was surpassed by an Immortal Venerable with such a low-level divine skill... How could there be such a terrifying Thunder Palm in the world!

"If this boy is so proficient with the lowest-level lightning technique, what kind of havoc could he wreak if he used a more formidable lightning technique?!"

Thinking of this, a chill ran up Long Que’s spine, making his scalp tingle, and he truly began to consider retreating.

In this regard, he somewhat misunderstood Ning Fan. Nowadays, Ning Fan pursues the divine path of simplicity; many of the divine skills he employs have undergone transformation and simplification. In his hands, the simpler the divine skill, the more closely it approaches the Dao, the stronger it becomes. High-level lightning techniques might not necessarily have such power.

But Long Que didn’t know this; he was just deducing based on the general rules of the cultivation world. High-level lightning techniques must be stronger than low-level ones; if Thunder Palm is already so terrifying, then if this boy uses a high-level technique, it might be enough to destroy heaven and earth!

This boy is definitely not an Eternal Immortal Venerable!

He’s definitely a Quasi-Saint in disguise!

Yes! Only a Quasi-Saint-level existence could wield Thunder Palm so terrifyingly, and only a Quasi-Saint could possess a complete set of innate treasures!

The more Long Que thought about it, the more shocked he became, so when the Sun Moon Stars Stele and Thunder Palm attacked again, Long Que made a decisive move and dodged the Sun Moon Stars Stele, withstood another Thunder Palm strike, conjured clouds and rain, and hurriedly dove towards the Boundary River below, intending to withdraw.

Instantly, all of Water Moon Pass was shocked!

When a different race Immortal Emperor attacked, Ning Fan repelled the attacker within just a few turns, so fierce, so powerful!

What one witnesses directly is always more shocking than hearsay! Everyone gasped, speechless for a long time.

Ning Fan’s expression remained calm, not particularly excited about repelling a different race Immortal Emperor in a few moves. He had slain many Immortal Emperors before; repelling a Sixth Calamity Immortal Emperor was nothing to boast about.

If it were any other Eastern Heaven Immortal Emperor, seeing a different race Immortal Emperor retreating, they would probably let it be.

But Ning Fan was different; his life dictionary never included the word retreat.

This demon dragon comes and goes as he pleases, how could things be so easy in this world!

Though there are many different race Immortal Emperors, their numbers are finite. Killing one means one less. If this demon dragon teamed up with several different race Immortal Emperors to come, Ning Fan might have some apprehension. But if they came alone, they must be killed; as the saying goes, if the heavens provide, failing to take it would be bringing trouble upon oneself!

"Freeze!"

Ning Fan didn’t even activate the Cross Halo; he simply raised a finger to freeze Long Que who wanted to escape in mid-air.

Then he shot out hundreds of Thunder Palms towards Long Que in an instant, while simultaneously smashing him towards him with the Sun Moon Stars Stele.

Despair filled Long Que’s heart; he hadn’t foreseen that Ning Fan would know the Heaven Sealing Art, a technique of the Ancestral Emperor from the Eastern Heaven. In front of a Quasi-Saint who knew the Heaven Sealing Art, he simply couldn’t escape!

The intense will to survive caused all potential within Long Que to erupt. At the crucial moment, Long Que held back nothing, as the flame dragon scales on his body suddenly flew out by the hundreds, transforming into shields of flame that completely blocked Ning Fan’s Thunder Palm and Sun Moon Stars Stele attacks.

The flame shields were extremely high in defense, but each could only withstand one strike when blocking Ning Fan’s attacks; afterward, they would revert to dragon scales, break apart, and dissipate.

This was an irrecoverable life-saving technique!

Though he blocked Ning Fan’s attack, Long Que lost hundreds of essential dragon scales in the process. Claiming not to be distressed would be false; more so, there was great sorrow and despair. After ten thousand years of painstaking cultivation, he managed to forge just one essential dragon scale, with only a few thousand of them throughout his body. How many more times can he withstand Ning Fan’s attacks?

His body was immobilized, only able to passively defend against Ning Fan’s attacks. He wouldn’t survive many rounds before dying under Ning Fan’s hands! He refused, he couldn’t accept it!

At the moment of despair, Long Que suddenly discovered that the Heaven Sealing Art Ning Fan applied on him had disappeared.

"Strange, if a Quasi-Saint used the Heaven Sealing Art on me, it should immobilize me for at least a hundred breaths; why could this boy’s Heaven Sealing Art sustain only a fleeting moment..."

"Could it be that he isn’t actually a Quasi-Saint and his cultivation is far inferior to mine? He really is just an Immortal Venerable? But if he’s an Immortal Venerable, how is this possible..."

Doubt after doubt rose in Long Que’s mind, but he certainly wouldn’t seek confirmation from Ning Fan.

No matter what Ning Fan’s cultivation is, his strength surpasses Long Que’s, that much is a fact. Going solo today was somewhat reckless; he hadn’t expected such a fierce figure among Eastern Heaven cultivators. Humph, he’ll have to reclaim this place another day!

"This ancestor won’t give you a second chance to immobilize me!"

Long Que stared resentfully at Ning Fan, muttering incantations, as his body suddenly multiplied into thousands, transforming into thousands of giant dragons, chaotically charging towards the water, indistinguishable as true or false.

If Ning Fan couldn’t determine which of these thousands was the true self, he naturally couldn’t freeze them all at once, leaving Long Que with a chance to escape back into the water.

But, Ning Fan happened to be an anomaly of the Era of Decline, an expert who had entered the Second Realm of Heavenly Beings. With just one glance, he pinpointed Long Que’s true self among the thousands of dragons and raised a finger, immobilizing him completely.

In the instant that Long Que’s true self was frozen, all the false dragon forms collapsed and dissipated.

"Impossible! How did you identify me!"

Long Que exclaimed in shock, as Ning Fan’s another round of stele and Thunder Palm attacks approached upon freezing him.

Long Que had no choice but to sacrifice hundreds more essential dragon scales to defend against this round of attacks. Yet, how could he continue?

He simply couldn’t escape back to the water; no matter how many false forms he produced, Ning Fan could immediately discern his true self’s position and freeze him again.

Round after round of attacks, Long Que finally exhausted his essential dragon scales.

Rounds passed, and Long Que was smashed by Sun Moon Stars Stele until his flesh collapsed, struck by Thunder Palms until he was scorched both inside and out, heavily injured, and dying.

Nowadays, Ning Fan needed neither the Cross Halo nor the Eternal True Body to defeat a lone Sixth Calamity Immortal Emperor.

Previously, when fighting Great Emperor Chonghe, Ning Fan had to use the Eternal True Body because Chonghe’s hidden power far surpassed the usual Sixth Calamity Immortal Emperors of the Era of Decline, which was merely an exception.

The cultivators of Water Moon Pass looked on in shock as Ning Fan overwhelmingly crushed Long Que, without even using the Cross Halo.

While word of Ning Fan defeating Emperor Chonghe had already spread among cultivators, witnessing firsthand an Immortal Emperor left powerless by Ning Fan was an entirely different level of shock!

The only unusual thing was that despite Long Que being on the brink of death, Ning Fan simply couldn’t eliminate his last trace of True Spirit, no matter what.

Indeed, Long Que’s true form is neither a demon soul nor a primordial spirit, but a True Spirit!

The True Spirit is the pinnacle of demon souls, an aspect rarely achieved even by Immortal Emperors of the Demon World in the Era of Decline. Although the demonic race within the Immortal Demon World likes to pride themselves as a True Spirit Race, a Demon Emperor who actually achieves True Spirit is rare indeed, merely in name only. It seems this dragon has encountered some unique opportunity...

Ning Fan exhausted all his means, yet could not extinguish Long Que’s True Spirit, losing patience; he simply extracted Long Que’s True Spirit directly to throw it into the Refining God Cauldron for alchemy, intending to refine it to death.

Immortal Emperors are notoriously difficult to kill, and this demon dragon seems even harder to kill than a typical Immortal Emperor.

Normally, when Ning Fan met Immortal Emperors hard to extinguish, he would capture their primordial spirit and throw it into the Refining God Cauldron to settle the matter. But this time, the Cauldron was defeated.

It couldn’t even refine Long Que’s True Spirit!

Through divine spirit talent and conversing with the Refining God Cauldron, Ning Fan learned that the Nine Reversal Twenty-One Withering Refining God Cauldron’s level was insufficient to refine the True Spirit demon cultivator, only able to refine primordial spirits and demon souls...

Truly troublesome, so does it mean he really cannot kill this demon dragon?

This demon dragon’s strength wasn’t formidable, yet was so tenacious, which was unprecedented...

"Humph! I don’t know who you are, but I advise you to release me quickly! I am Long Que, the Ninth Prince of the Sixteen Princes of the Dragon-Horse, with sixteen brothers who are all Immortal Emperors. The sixteen brothers are of one heart, co-cultivating the Sixteen-Heart True Spirit, a special True Spirit harder to annihilate compared to ordinary True Spirits. Only by capturing all sixteen brothers’ True Spirits and refining them into a Sixteen-Hearts Pill could there be a slight chance to truly extinguish us. Otherwise, even if you are a Quasi-Saint, you cannot harm a single one of my sixteen brothers! If you let me go, I can offer you some compensation that will surely satisfy you! Since you can’t kill me anyway, why not release me for some benefits..."

Seeing Ning Fan unable to kill him, Long Que regained some courage, speaking brazenly yet cowardly.

Ning Fan’s gaze turned slightly strange; this foolish demon dragon mistook him for a Quasi-Saint?

The Sixteen Princes of the Dragon-Horse...what are they?

As for the Sixteen-Heart True Spirit...according to Long Que’s statement, only by capturing all sixteen brothers and refining the Sixteen-Hearts Pill can they be annihilated? A single one truly cannot be killed?

Seeing Ning Fan ponder silently, Long Que assumed Ning Fan was swayed by his words and began offering various bribes to tempt Ning Fan into releasing him.

If it were other Immortal Emperors of Eastern Heaven, seeing the impossibility to kill Long Que’s True Spirit, most would retreat and release Long Que for benefits.

But Ning Fan didn’t do that. Release the tiger back into the mountains, creating future troubles. He had already battered Long Que so badly; if he released Long Que, he couldn’t guarantee that Long Que wouldn’t seek revenge.

Even if he couldn’t kill Long Que, he would imprison Long Que by his side, never allowing him to return to the bottom of the Boundary River to nurse wounds and later wreak havoc again.

Or maybe if there’s an opportunity, he could indeed capture the rest of Long Que’s siblings and refine the so-called Sixteen-Hearts Pill?

Hmm...no, it’s better not to attempt this.

Ning Fan vaguely felt that what Long Que said was nine parts false, one part true; though the method to extinguish Long Que’s True Spirit might indeed require capturing all sixteen individuals, gathering them might trigger unforeseen consequences, caution is imperative...

"Release you? Absolutely not. There’s plenty of time, and I can always find a way to kill you; stay here and wait for your end peacefully."

Upon Ning Fan’s declaration, Long Que was incensed, directly cursing Ning Fan, swearing to annihilate Ning Fan’s kin if Eastern Heaven was ever conquered to quench his hatred!

Having nowhere to escape, he cursed freely, his words utterly vile and coarse.

Ning Fan’s gaze darkened; he used a divine ability to seal Long Que’s foul mouth and left him unconscious, imprisoned.

Internally, he remarked that these other race beings indeed had designs on conquering Eastern Heaven, making it even less possible for him to treat the captured beings kindly.

Capturing this different race Immortal Emperor held no utility, unable even to extract information via Soul Search.

No matter their rank, different race beings do not cultivate divine sense; a master’s Soul Searching Technique can’t access their memories; even the Mind Reading Technique mysteriously can’t discern the thoughts of female beings.

Low-tier beings were indeed once captured for questioning, but their intellect was often too low to communicate meaningfully with Eastern Celestial Cultivators, yielding nothing substantial from interrogations.

High-tier beings were also captured and questioned, yet little of value was extracted...

Ning Fan rid himself of distractions, tidied the battlefield, and ascended back into the skies above Water Moon Pass, seated on the Immortal Clouds.

Inside Water Moon Pass, spirits were high. Owing to Ning Fan’s capture of a different race Immortal Emperor, everyone was ecstatic, revering Ning Fan immensely.

The Transformed Dragon Elder and others exaggerated Ning Fan’s achievement of capturing Long Que, reporting via secret technique to Tai Yuan Crossing, hoping to request rewards for Ning Fan while seeking some benefits themselves.

Ning Fan neither stopped nor encouraged his subordinates’ actions, merely letting things flow without interference, uninterested in micromanaging.

His focus lay entirely on the Fire Avoidance Art.

Though he couldn’t kill Long Que, Ning Fan shattered Long Que’s physical defense, thus obtaining some blood and flesh memories from it afterward.

Long Que’s trump card divine abilities were acquired by Ning Fan in several forms, albeit mostly fragmented; only the Fire Avoidance Art was roughly complete.

The Fire Avoidance Art’s full name is Sixty-Four Trigrams Fire-Avoidance Art; despite Ning Fan’s disregard for spells and divine skills now, it stirred some interest in this art.

If mastered, this art could greatly enhance resistance to fire-type attacks; if directly activated, it would evade most worldly fire attacks, rendering them unable to land...

In terms of its wondrous nature, this art is no less impressive than the Heaven-Fixing Finger! Unexpectedly, there’s such a valuable piece on Long Que; an unforeseen gain.

Seeing through the surface, Ning Fan imagined there must exist numerous powerful divine skills within the different race beings, not to be underestimated.

"Though I do not plan to cultivate this Sixty-Four Trigrams Fire-Avoidance Art, it doesn’t mean I cannot infuse its essence into the Grand Five Elements Body. The Five Elements defense of the Grand Five Elements Body now lags behind the Immortal Emperor-level duels. If I can thoroughly merge this art, perhaps my Grand Five Elements Body could advance further..."

"However, on how to continue cultivating the Grand Five Elements Body, I really don’t have much of a concept. All predecessors claimed it reached an end, but I think this path can progress further; the only trouble is I must pioneer the road for the Grand Five Elements Body myself, fulfilling what predecessors hadn’t completed..."

Ning Fan contemplated the essence of the Sixty-Four Trigrams Fire-Avoidance Art, slowly merging fire-resistance related essence into the Grand Five Elements Body.

With his insightful perception and vision, extracting the essence of the Fire Avoidance Art wasn’t a difficult task, enabling the previously stagnant Grand Five Elements Body to undergo another transformation...

...

The Eleventh Waterway, deep beneath the water.

Witnessing Long Que’s long absence, the giant dragons paid no heed, assuming he was indulging at the surface, thinking that he would return once satisfied.

No one believed there would be any danger confronting a handful of ants without an Immortal King among them. To worry seemed absurd, right?

Days later, Water Moon Pass was rebuilt.

Between Water Moon Pass and Tai Yuan Crossing along the waterway, a thin golden formation light as fragile as a cicada’s wing suddenly enveloped the water’s surface.

Some low-tier beings daring to emerge from the water were killed by the formation light as soon they surfaced, greatly shocked, no longer daring casual emergence.

Though Eternal-level beings of the different race weren’t killed by the formation light, they were all wounded, unable to break through the water surrounded by the formation light.

Ning Fan looked pleased at the golden shimmer obscuring the water’s surface.

Excellent, with Water Moon Pass reconstructed, the beings found it difficult to infiltrate from behind the Pass, forced to assault from the front where the formation light hadn’t enveloped the water.

This maneuver effectively shifted the Eleventh Path’s frontline position from Tai Yuan Crossing to Water Moon Pass.

"Leave a hundred to guard the Pass, the rest follow me to attack the next post!"

"As you command!"