Grasping Evil

Chapter 187: Lost World Palace, The Pill Tower!

Ning Fan boarded another ship that was headed to Peng Lai Immortal Island and cupped his fists as farewell to the experts of Bi Yao Immortal Island.

I suppose Jing Zhuo has already arrived at Peng Lai Immortal Island…

The ship he boarded sailed on the surface of the sea. It was slower compared to the Heaven Evading Ship but it was much more stable.

Ning Fan stood at his favourite spot - the ship’s bow and gazed at the edge of the sky. His long black hair danced gracefully in the air as the sea breeze blew against his face. Although his face might seem to be as cold as ice, his heart was filled with excitement!

This ship is headed straight to Peng Lai Immortal Island!

There’s nothing else that can stop me from… forming my very own Core!

Whenever he thought of what he could do after he arrives at the island, his eyes would gleam in enthusiasm.

Once I’ve formed my Gold Core, I would be able to form my Nascent Soul. Then I will sever my spirit. Step by step, I will get to the pinnacle of power in this path of cultivation!

For the first month, he sat down cross-legged and meditated.

In the second month, the weather turned warm and windy. He continued his meditation in silence.

When the third month went by, an immortal island clouded by green mist emerged in the distance!

As the ship got closer to the island, Ning Fan raised his head and stared at the enormous shadow casted over the sea by the immortal island floating in midair. His eyebrows rose in astonishment!

There were ten famous sects and three prominent islands in External Endless Sea. Peng Lai Immortal Island was one of the said three islands. Its size was more than enough to build an entire empire!

What astonished Ning Fan the most was that the island had no soil which was essential as the foundation of just about every island. In fact, the island was actually the body of a gigantic corpse of an immortal turtle!

The turtle has been dead for millions of years and had turned into a fossil. As such, living things started to grow on top of it. Moreover, the accumulated spiritual qi in this island was far more concentrated compared to the land of Great Jin! It was no doubt a great place to cultivate.

A black massive building soaring into the clouds as if it were going to pierce through the heavens could be seen far away. It was the Lost World Palace!

Finally, I have arrived!

Just as the ship stopped, Ning Fan quickly leapt out and flew directly towards the island.

The green hills and clear waters of the island formed a picturesque scenery that could mesmerize any cultivator who came here. There were even hooded cranes flying in the sky while singing songs.

Some giant elephants that had wings could be found at the entrance of the island. Each and every one of them carried a pavilion on their backs, providing a comfortable shelter for cultivators to take refreshments and rest their tired bodies. The giant elephants might appear to be heavy, but when it runs, its speed was comparable to that of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.

The island had no protective formation since it used to be a place where rogue cultivators gathered. However, there were people from the Lost World Palace on duty, prohibiting cultivators from flying in the sky except for experts at Nascent Soul Realm and above. As such, the ordinary cultivators below Nascent Soul Realm could only ride the giant elephants to enter the island. It was impossible for them to travel on foot as the island was too big and it might take tens of years to reach the Lost World Palace.

Many cultivators on the island were at the Late Nascent Soul Realm. Ning Fan no longer faked his cultivation realm as he would get into trouble if he continued to do so.

He dispersed his Falsifying Art and revealed his true cultivation realm, emanating an aura at the Half-Step Gold Core Realm. After paying 500 immortal jade, he got on a giant elephant.

In the pavilion, he sat alone on a stool made of stone. A good-looking girl at Vein Opening Realm was serving him respectfully.

“Mister, is this your first time visiting Peng Lai Immortal Island? I am willing to tell you about local customs and practices for just 1 immortal jade.”

“Oh? Just 1 immortal jade?” Ning Fan laughed faintly and paid her as it was quite worthwhile to understand more about the place with that price.

There were three influential forces in Peng Lai Immortal Island.

The Human World Division of the Four Heavens Immortal World - Lost World Palace, which had a high density of time current that made the time within the palace to run slower than the external dimension.

Green Bamboo Palace, which was well-known for its production of spiritual wine.

Pill Cauldron Gate, which ran the business of selling Human Cauldrons.

Thus, Peng Lai Immortal Island was known as the ideal place for cultivation. Pill Cauldron Gate can provide human cauldrons while Green Bamboo Palace can supply spiritual wines! For anyone who want to cultivate faster, Lost World Palace allows them to achieve a greater cultivation realm in only a short time passing in the real world. Besides, cultivators could buy different kinds of pills in the Lost World Palace as it drew over dozens of Pill Refining Masters. As long as you are wealthy enough, buying a Nascent Soul Realm human cauldron and Fifth Revolution Pills were not difficult things!

“It’s indeed the best place for cultivation. However, I did not know whether my immortal jade is sufficient or not…”

Ning Fan laughed bitterly. Currently, he could be considered richer than most Early Nascent Soul Realm cultivators since he had 8 million immortal jade in his possession.

Despite his wealth, he was still unable to get the best floor of the Lost World Tower.

The tower was situated inside the Lost World Palace. According to Luo You, it was a silver tower and within, there were seven floors. On the first floor, time flowed half the speed of the time in the external dimension. On the second floor, the speed of time was one fourth that of the external dimension. The time of the rest of the floors progressively gets slower and slower, flowing half the speed of the previous floor. At the end of the day, the speed of time in the seventh floor was 1/128 of the external dimension…

The seven floors actually symbolized the seven cultivation realms. The first floor was for Vein Opening Realm cultivators. The second floor was for Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivators. And only Gold Core Realm experts were permitted to enter the third floor.

The regulations were extremely strict. No Gold Core Realm expert could enter the fourth floor even for Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm cultivators!

However, there was an exception for the Pill Masters favored by the Lost World Palace. Only Pill Masters could receive preferential treatment. For example, a Fourth Revolution Pill Master could enter the fourth floor even though he was not a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. A Fifth Revolution Pill Master could enter the fifth floor even if he had yet to achieve Spirit Severing Realm.

In other words, Ning Fan could only enter the second floor judging by his current cultivation realm. Spending four years in that floor would be equivalent to one year in reality.

But he would be granted the permission to enter the fifth floor if he used his identity as a Fifth Revolution Pill Master. One year in the external world was thirty-two years in that floor!

If he spent 3200 years of cultivation there, it would only be a hundred years for the external dimensions. 3200 years was a long period of time which would make attaining Spirit Severing Realm easy for him. Maybe he could even achieve the Void Fragmentation Realm!

The thought of spending 3200 years in the tower, however, only existed in the realm of impossibility because no one in the entire Endless Sea could stay in the fifth floor for so long. The reason was mainly because the price was too exorbitant!

In that tower, the higher the floor, the higher the price. Spending one year in reality in the first floor would cost you 100 immortal jade. In the second floor, one year would cost 1000 immortal jade. In the third floor, it would cost 10000 immortal jade for the same period. In the fourth floor, a year was equivalent to 120000 immortal jade. He had to pay 960000 immortal jade for a year in the fifth floor.

Besides, there was a rule established by the old ancestors of the Lost World Palace to prevent cultivators from cultivating in the lower floors. For instance, Gold Core Realm cultivators who were able to enter the first three floors could not enjoy the time effect in the first floor. For Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, they were entitled to enter four floors but the first and second floor would lose the time effect.

Once the Vein Opening Realm female finished her explanations, she retreated to her original position while Ning Fan was musing on his financial issue.

He was running out of time. As such, he preferred to cultivate in the highest floor that he was entitled to. However, the amount of immortal jade he possessed could only last him 8 years in reality to cultivate in the fifth floor.

8 years was equivalent to 256 years in that floor. In the past, Ning Fan shortened his life span to congeal his incarnation using the Soul Incarnation Chant in the Demon Sinister Forest. His remaining life span was almost the same number of years he was able spend in the fifth floor.

If he successfully broke through the Gold Core Realm, he could live for another 500 years. If he failed, he would breathe his last in the Lost World Palace.

(As a matter of fact, he might be spending 8 years in reality to cultivate in the tower. But his life span would drain according to the years in the tower. It is the biggest downside of the tower. It isn’t truly altering the time but it just slows down the time within the tower.)

For those cultivators who were struggling to form their Gold Core, they would eventually die because of exhausting their life spans even if they cultivate in the Lost World Tower. The same goes for the cultivators of higher realms. The Lost World Tower could slow the time but it could not alter a person’s fate.

“Jing Zhuo needs a hundred years to form his Nascent Soul. He would stay at the third floor for at least 10 years. While I will be cultivating in the fifth floor for 8 years. To enter the fifth floor, I need to first gain recognition from the Lost World Palace! I must prove that I am a Fifth Revolution Pill Master!”

…

Ten days later, Ning Fan arrived at a cultivation city where he transferred into another elephant.

Fifteen days later, he reached another cultivation city and once again, he got onto another giant elephant to continue his journey.

A month later, he arrived at the final destination of his journey -Xuan Wu City!

2 years had passed since the day he left Ning City. Currently, he was at the age of 20.

From now onwards, age doesn't matter anymore. It’s the beginning of another chapter in my path of cultivation.

Xuan Wu City was within the boundary of the Lost World Palace! A ten thousand zhang* tall building painted in black stood in the center of the city. Undoubtedly, it was the Lost Word Tower! Other than the magnificently tall tower, there were four towers at the north, south, east and west of the city, which were smaller in size. Those were the pill towers!

All cultivators would need to be tested in any of the pill towers to register their pill refining level.

“I need a Pill Master Emblem!”

Within seconds, Ning Fan set his foot on the southern pill tower. A pretty female cultivator at Mid Harmonious Spirit Realm welcomed his arrival.

“This master, how should I address you? Are you here to register your pill refining level?”

“Precisely. My name is Zhou Ming.”

“Hehe. So it’s Master Zhou. May I know what your current realm in pill refining is? If you are a Second Revolution Pill Master, I will test you. If you are a Third Revolution Pill Master or above, I’ll need to request Elder Mo to test you.” Her eyes scanned Ning Fan from head to toe.

Although she did not have a strong cultivation realm, she had a keen eyesight. She could tell that Ning Fan was a Half-Step Gold Core cultivator who intended to use the Lost World Tower for cultivation at a glance.

It was because there were many cultivators like Ning Fan who came here every year. Most of them were Second Revolution Pill Masters and only a minority of them were Third Revolution Pill Masters.

By registering their pill refining level at the towers, they got to enjoy a few benefits. For example, Second Revolution Pill Masters could enjoy a 10% discount while Third Revolution Pill Masters were able to enjoy a 20% discount on the cost of entering the Lost World Tower.

Therefore, many of the pill masters were willing to register their pill refining level on the tower in order to qualify for the discounts.

Besides, there were not any shackles after revealing their pill refining realm. Quite opposite to that, the pill masters could accept quests from the Lost World Palace and refine the pills needed to obtain rewards in the form of immortal jade.

All the benefits given were to attract more and more pill masters to stand on the side of Lost World Palace.

After scanning Ning Fan repeatedly, she made a guess in her heart.

This man is too young. He should be a Second Revolution Pill Master. His appearance might look old but his bone age can never lie.

The way she made her judgement was not inaccurate at all, except for Ning Fan’s pill refining realm. Her appearance looked like she was a young lady at her twenties but she had actually been living for more than a hundred years. As for Ning Fan, despite his air of indifference, he was still a twenty-year-old young man.

“This lady, please help me to request for Elder Mo. I’m afraid you can’t test my pill refining level…’

“What?! Don’t tell me you’re a Third Revolution Pill Master! Er. I’m sorry for losing my composure. I’ll go right now, please excuse me.”

Her eyes flashed with amazement. Among all the cultivators she welcomed in the southern tower, only a few disciples from influential sects could attain the Third Revolution of pill refining technique at such a young age.

Although he is only a 20-year-old, I must never offend him.

Before she left, she stopped and looked lasciviously at Ning Fan.

“My name is Ya Lan. If Master Zhou does not have a partner, I’m willing to be yours.”

“ *Cough* Actually I already have a partner…”

“Oh really? Never mind then…”

The woman did not appear to be bashful of her actions. It was the reality in the cultivation world.

She was willing to forgo her pride and offer herself to be his concubine if he was truly a Third Revolution Pill Master. By then, her future in the cultivation world would be bright. However, that dream could only exist in her imagination.

“I’m going to call for Elder Mo. Remember, Elder Mo is a Peak Third Revolution Pill Master. He is a bad-tempered guy. You must be polite when you meet him.”