Chapter 1153: Chapter 1153: The Heavenly Bull Awakens!

The Great Thousand World is a realm beyond the control of cultivators at the second step, and even if combining the world Ning Fan lived in with the Dreamland Realm, it would only count as a complete Great Thousand.

Upon learning that the Void Emperor’s world of the Great Thousand World Treasure is not intact but a damaged world, everyone’s expressions relaxed slightly, though still somewhat surprised.

The spatial weight contained within a complete Great Thousand World Treasure could directly crush an Ancient Great Cultivator to death.

Even if it’s just a damaged Great Thousand, it’s more than enough to imprison some not-so-powerful Immortal Emperors, quite appropriate for imprisoning the Different Race Immortal Emperors cultivating here.

"Brother Bai, you can use the Azure Sky White Jade Tower to cover our spirits three feet. This treasure has quite the miraculous effect in restraining karma." Emperor Jin Heng said.

Old Demon Bai nodded, raised the White Jade Little Tower in his palm high as an offering vessel, releasing clouds of light that covered everyone. The tower’s divine powers opened, instantly suppressing the surrounding karma.

Seeing this, Emperor Jin Heng instructed everyone a few more things before leading the team deeper into the ruins.

Although Emperor Jin Heng’s cultivation is not the highest among everyone, because the Golden Bull Palace has guarded the Boundary River since ancient times, Emperor Jin Heng is most familiar with the many secrets of the Boundary River. Thus, he leads this operation.

According to Ning Fan’s Treasure-searching Compass, the ruins’ northwest, northeast, and southeast corners each house a Different Race Immortal Emperor in secluded cultivation.

Because of the Realm Beast Tribe’s highly concealed spatial barrier, everyone hid within it, quietly approaching one of the Different Race Immortal Emperors without alarming him at all.

It was a Sixth Calamity Immortal Emperor from the Dragon Crab Clan, whose colossal body was resting atop a collapsed building, cautiously refining the karma around.

The Dragon Crab Clan has an exceptionally high resistance to karma, which is why he dared to absorb the karma that ordinary cultivators avoid like the plague. But of course, he didn’t dare absorb too much each time. At this moment, this Dragon Crab Immortal Emperor was carefully drawing the surrounding karma into an extremely thin red line, then bringing it into his stomach.

Suddenly, faint spatial fluctuations appeared around.

The fluctuations were so weak, so weak that only the Dragon Crab Immortal Emperor in close proximity could detect them; those too far away could not perceive them.

The moment these spatial fluctuations occurred, the Dragon Crab Immortal Emperor immediately felt a dizzying sensation, and the next moment, he’d been forcibly pulled into the Void Emperor’s World Treasure’s space.

It was a ruined world filled with a gray atmosphere, abandoned for countless years, yet even so, it caused the Dragon Crab Immortal Emperor’s face to drastically change as he exclaimed in shock and anger.

"Which race does this Daoist friend belong to? To dare imprison me with the legendary Great Thousand World Treasure! I am Yuan Crab, a subordinate officer of the Grand Divine Minister. Could there be a misunderstanding here?" He spoke in a language unique to Different Races.

Naturally, no one present understood, except Ning Fan, who knew the Different Race language, and said with a smile.

"Misunderstanding? Haha, no misunderstanding, you’re exactly who we caught, stay here."

With these words, Ning Fan and his group quietly emerged in this desolate Great Thousand World.

"Gasp! The White-Clad Yama! And to see so many Eastern Heaven Immortal Emperors with him! My fate is doomed!" The Dragon Crab Immortal Emperor was instantly terrified, his face losing all color.

Just Ning Fan alone made him realize today was going to be rough, not to mention that behind Ning Fan followed numerous Eastern Heaven Immortal Emperors. How could he possibly survive today!

Escape was not an option either; imprisoned within the Great Thousand World, he would be unable to find a spatial rift to escape from this place without several days!

The question then arises—would Ning Fan and his companions grant him several days to slowly find an exit and flee?

Boom boom boom!

Just one glance, and the Dragon Crab Immortal Emperor was subdued by Ning Fan’s group, knocked unconscious, and temporarily sealed in this Great Thousand World.

He was not killed; killing him would immediately alert the Different Race to changes here.

"Two more left."

Everyone exited the Great Thousand World, again hiding under the spatial barrier and advancing stealthily, approaching another Different Race Immortal Emperor’s place of secluded cultivation, capturing him in the same manner.

In no time, the last Different Race Immortal Emperor in secluded cultivation was also captured.

"We can begin repairing the Sealing Tower now, but before that, we need to arrange some Concealment Formation over this ruins. If the Different Race powerhouses passing through this area detect fluctuations, it would be unwise. There is a type of Concealment Formation in Golden Bull Palace, called the Four Corners Formation, which requires four Daoist friends to occupy each corner and control, not straying from their positions. Once activated, even a First Order Quasi-Saint can be deceived; if this formation’s eye is further watched over by Daoist Ning Fan’s Sword of Severing Bonds, even a Second-Grade Quasi-Saint can be deceived! Daoist Ning Fan, may I borrow your sword?" Emperor Jin Heng asked.

"Of course." Ning Fan nodded, summoned the Sword of Severing Bonds, and temporarily lent it to Emperor Jin Heng.

Emperor Jin Heng observed at the ruins for a long time, roughly discerning the terrain and choosing the main formation’s eye position, where he inserted the Sword of Severing Bonds. He then asked Void, Divine Space, Bajing, and Luo Hou to each guard a corner of the ruins, combining their strength to inscribe the formation pattern of the Four Corners Formation over the ruins.

In an instant, all Heavenly secrets of the ruins were severed, with nary a hint of mana fluctuations leaking out. This way, even if Ning Fan’s group made significant movements inside, they wouldn’t be easily detected by outsiders.

"The Four Corners Formation cannot be left unattended. Daoist friends like Void must guard the formation, unable to participate in repairing the Sealing Tower, so only the four of us will genuinely be doing the tower repairs. Daoist Ning Fan, please use the Treasure-searching Compass to locate the accurate position of the Sealing Tower. The Sealing Tower naturally has concealment abilities, and even if it has been damaged for many years, it would not let people easily discover its position..."

Even with the aid of the Treasure-searching Compass, Ning Fan took a long time to so much as find the approximate position of the Sealing Tower.

Emperor Jin Heng led Ning Fan, Bai Yulou, and Emperor Cang to the general area of the Sealing Tower, then sat cross-legged on the ground, muttering under his breath, surprisingly chanting a scripture.

The scripture is called the [Great Purple Star Demon-Sealing Scripture], which can communicate with the Sealing Tower and summon it from its concealed state.

A day passed.

Two days passed.

Until the third day, atop the ruins of a certain place’s collapsed walls, a sudden burst of purple light appeared, and a demon tower made of violet jade appeared before everyone’s eyes.

This was one of the three Sealing Towers on the Sixth Path, severely damaged, with the tower’s body covered in cracks, severely corroded, and countless seaweeds and shells parasitizing it, leaving no trace of sealing power inside.

This was an abandoned tower, long perished together with the Heavenly Shadow Clan countless years ago.

On the tower’s body, it was densely covered with damaged inscriptions, at least using hundreds of different languages, all languages of the Ancient Cultivators, and with Ning Fan’s experience, he could only recognize a few of these languages.

Ancient God Script, ancient demon characters, devil characters, Barbarian Script...

These characters repeated the same sentence over and over.

[The purple star to the left, the dipper star to the right, eyes open as dreams, eyes close as void].

The Sealing Tower had this spell inscribed on it, and it wasn’t Ning Fan’s first time seeing this spell. On the nine Tianhuang Stone Gates connected to the Real Realms, this spell was also present. Back on Mu Island, Ning Fan heard Daoist Wood Pine speak of this spell too.

The Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign seemed to be fond of inscribing this spell everywhere. It is said that within this sentence lies a divine skill left by the Immortal Sovereign. Unfortunately, even though Ning Fan researched this spell for many years, he could not grasp the key to it at all.

He no longer looked at that spell and instead followed Emperor Jin Heng to begin repairing the Sealing Tower.

Repairing the tower was only the first step in restoring the Immortal Emperor Seal.

The immortal materials for repairing the tower were all provided by Emperor Jin Heng, taken from the Golden Bull Palace’s storeroom, with many immortal materials handed down from ancient times.

Under Emperor Jin Heng’s lead, the repair work progressed smoothly at one point, and after ten days, the Sealing Tower was completely restored.

A newly restored demon tower with bull horns appeared before everyone’s eyes. The tower exuded an enormous willpower, and apart from Ning Fan, who possessed the power of War Yin and Yang and had a high resistance to willpower, the remaining people were all overwhelmed by that will.

"This is... the Immortal Emperor’s will! To think such a level of will still remains in this tower after so many years. If the tower were at its full strength, we probably wouldn’t even be able to get within a thousand zhàng of it!" Emperor Cang and others remarked.

The Sealing Tower was also repaired.

Next came the most crucial step, which required sending someone into the tower to utilize the Sealing Tower’s power, incorporating the repair materials into the Immortal Emperor Seal of the entire Boundary River, thereby restoring the Immortal Emperor Seal.

The Sealing Tower can only allow one person inside at a time, without exception, so not everyone needs to enter.

If this can be completed, the different races, no matter how capable, would not be able to wreak havoc out of the water again.

However, the person entering the tower would bear enormous risks. One careless move could directly result in all reincarnation being sealed off by the sealing power within the tower. The person would die forgotten by all beings within reincarnation...

Forgotten, huh...

It truly aligns with the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign’s style of dying... Speaking of which, the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign’s Power of Reincarnation inherently contains the power to erase memories...

So, which of the four should be sent to take the risk and repair the Sealing Tower?

"I’ll go! I know the most about restoring seals." Emperor Jin Heng said strugglingly, finally sighing.

"I am the Alliance Hierarch, given the peril, I should naturally be the one to go." Emperor Cang shook his head with a bitter smile.

"Hmph! I possess the highest cultivation! Naturally, it should be me who goes! If you repair the tower, the failure rate is too high!" The Old Demon Bai said stubbornly.

These three people actually competed to enter the Sealing Tower, as if completely unafraid of the dangers within.

Of course, they weren’t truly fearless.

But a great man must do what must be done and refrain from what must not be done.

Some beliefs simply must be upheld.

Even if millions of people are against me, I shall move forward regardless.

In the heart of every youth, there is initially a passionate enthusiasm, yet the years often quench that enthusiasm and smooth out those edges.

Emperor Cang and others were no longer hot-blooded young lads, yet at this moment, they were scrambling to risk themselves, causing a tremor in Ning Fan’s heart, momentarily flashing him back to passionate, impulsive memories of youth.

Hot-blooded adventurers are foolish, while those wise enough to preserve themselves are sensible. The former may easily perish on the long river of cultivation, barely leaving a splash, whereas the latter often survives until the end.

Yet compared to those cunning, worldly faces, Ning Fan found Emperor Cang and others more endearing at this moment as they vied to take the risk.

"I’ll go after all." Ning Fan finally opened his mouth.

He wasn’t as noble as Emperor Cang and others; his motive was quite simple, which was that if he went to repair the Immortal Emperor Seal, the success rate would be higher than if others went.

Of the celestial emperors here, it was naturally Ning Fan, once a disciple of the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign, who understood the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign’s power the most.

He was familiar with the oppressive will of the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign.

He was familiar with the reincarnation atmosphere of the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign.

If Emperor Cang and others went to repair the seal, it would likely be a situation of nine deaths and one life, while he didn’t face such great risk, and even if unable to succeed in repairs, he had confidence in his self-preservation.

But others do not know that Ning Fan is confident he can protect himself.

Emperor Cang and the others were surprised to see Ning Fan just like them, vying for death, and felt deeply moved, holding Ning Fan’s character in higher regard.

After a brief contention among the four, Ning Fan ultimately secured the opportunity to enter the Sealing Tower.

This made Emperor Cang and the others feel even more ashamed. Ning Fan deserved the greatest credit for recovering the underwater passage; yet he was once again taking the greatest risk by repairing the Immortal Emperor’s seal. They truly felt uneasy about it...

Regrettably, once Ning Fan stepped into the Demon Tower, no one else could enter it unless Ning Fan came out.

As a result, Emperor Cang and the others simply could not enter the tower to swap places with him...

Inside the tower, the oppressive will of the Immortal Emperor filled the air, suffocating.

At the top of the tower, numerous skeletons were arrayed here, victims who had attempted to enter this place for various reasons, to repair or destroy the Immortal Emperor’s seal.

Repairing the Immortal Emperor’s seal is truly fraught with danger, and these skeletons are evidence of it. There are bones of cultivators, different race beasts, Immortal Emperors, Quasi-Saints; at least a thousand Immortal Emperors and dozens of Quasi-Saints died atop the tower.

Those who die here will lose their names, erased from all historical records.

No one knows who these people were.

Even their family members and disciples have long since forgotten their existence. To die here means no one will remember; to die here means all things related to these people will be erased by reincarnation.

Therefore, after these people die, even their magical treasures and storage pouches cannot be preserved...

Logically, Ning Fan should not be able to deduce the origins of these people from later texts, legends, or site traces.

Yet, he is a cultivator who communicates with all things, capable of directly speaking with these skeletons and asking about their identities.

Ning Fan: "Who are you?"

Skeleton A: "Purple Dou Immortal Cultivator, Huanxian Sect, Ancient Great Cultivator Huanxianzi."

Startled! The first skeleton Ning Fan asked was actually an Ancient Great Cultivator!

"Who are you?"

Skeleton B: "Purple Dou Immortal Cultivator, Lieyuan Sect, Fourth disciple of Saint Luyuan, Lu Yunzhou."

There are actually people from the Lieyuan Sect who died here! Quite a coincidence...

A disciple of the Lieyuan Sect, and the disciple of Saint Luyuan. Ning Fan recalls that Saint Luyuan seemed to be the teacher of the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor, meaning this skeleton’s owner was originally a brother or sister to the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor?

With the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor’s character, if they knew there was a relic of a Lieyuan Sect cultivator here, upon revival, they would surely take this relic away.

The reason for not retrieving this relic is solely that it was forgotten by the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor... This highlights the terrifying aspect of the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign, capable of making the closest people forget you...

Ning Fan sighed and continued to inquire, discovering the origins of these skeletons varied widely.

There are descendants of Ziwei.

There are descendants of the Northern Dipper.

There are invaders who once followed the Love Wielding Immortal Emperor to attack the Dreamland Realm.

There are spies from sects in the Real Realms who infiltrated the Dreamland Realm.

And there are little thieves who came here seeking treasure.

Uh, seeking treasure, what treasure can there be here?

Some even arrived with a third intention, beyond repairing or destroying the seal, which astonished Ning Fan.

Soon, Ning Fan discovered, there seemed to be more than one little thief who came here seeking treasure... This empty Sealing Tower, could it really have some treasure?

Ning Fan suppressed these greedy thoughts; whether there was treasure or not was not the primary concern—first, he must repair the seal.

The reason he spent time conversing with the skeletons was merely to gather some intelligence, to understand the cause of these deaths.

Unfortunately, nothing could be understood.

So far, he has not encountered any danger as he ascended to the top of the tower; this implies that danger might only appear when he begins to repair the Immortal Emperor’s seal.

Considering that many Purple Dou Immortal Cultivators who attempted to repair the seal died here, it indicates the risk does not stem from the will of the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign, nor is it controlled by them.

Therefore, indiscriminately slaughtering those who recklessly act upon the seal, regardless of whether they harbor good or ill intentions...

Ning Fan pondered for some time, finally slapping the storage pouch and taking out a golden bamboo tube painted with a pattern of a golden bull.

The bamboo tube sealed with gold powder, was ground from the horn of the ancient Heavenly Bull, which could be used to inscribe formation patterns on the top of the tower. Through these patterns, hundreds of restoration materials could be refined into the Immortal Emperor’s seal.

Ning Fan had no difficulty in inscribing formations. In just a few hours, he had completed the formation.

Next, he only needed to follow the technique taught by Emperor Jin Heng to place the various restoration materials into their respective formation’s eye positions.

Beside the formation was an incense table. Ning Fan arranged the restoration materials and took out a curved blade made from the rib of the Heavenly Bull of the Golden Bull Palace, lit several pieces of talisman paper, and began casting spells.

Again and again, and again...

Ning Fan, like a Daoist wielding a peach wood sword, swung the curved blade of the Golden Bull Palace, chanting the incantations taught by Emperor Jin Heng.

Gradually, the formation patterns atop the tower began to glow, one by one, the restoration materials were absorbed into the formation, transformed into a tremendous restorative force, and integrated into the Immortal Emperor’s seal across the entire Eastern Boundary River.

The Immortal Emperor seal, long exhausted for many years, for the first time after countless ages, absorbed new power!

In an instant, the sealing power throughout the Boundary River showed signs of strengthening. Countless different races trembled in fear, awakening the deep-rooted terror of the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign within their bloodlines.

The Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign was never benevolent, never.

His achievements lay in creating the Purple Dou Immortal Domain, a world where all beings were equal, but before this creation, he flattened the Ziwei and Northern Dipper Immortal Domains, leaving a blood-stained legacy.

This was the reason Ziwei Immortal Cultivators hated the descendants of Purple Dou.

It was also the reason Ziwei Immortal Cultivators feared the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign!

Inside the Sixth Path Temple, the foreign clan’s Grand Divine Minister was discussing something with the other clans’ Quasi-Saints, when suddenly, everyone noticed a trend of strengthening in the Boundary River’s seal, their complexions changing drastically.

"Damn it! Why would the Immortal Emperor’s seal suddenly strengthen!"

"Could it be that Eastern Heaven Celestial Cultivators have infiltrated the Sixth Path Sealing Tower!"

"We’ve endured humiliation, made deals with Demon-Sealing Peak, repeatedly sacrificed our clansmen to offer to Blood God Geng Wu, seeking only to break the seal on the Eastern Boundary River, allowing all the Ziwei Immortal Cultivators to return to the land and annihilate all the descendants of Purple Dou! We worked painstakingly to exhaust the seal to the state it is today, how can we allow others to repair the seal!"

"Kill them! All Purple Dou Immortal Cultivators should be killed!"

"Which sealing tower has been infiltrated, quickly send someone to support!"

"The temple’s sealing tower is intact, the Heavenly Shadow Clan’s sealing tower has long been destroyed. It seems the Holy Lotus Clan’s sealing tower has a problem!"

"Please, Grand Divine Minister, give the order, quickly support the Holy Lotus Clan! We must not let the Eastern Heaven ants succeed in repairing the Immortal Emperor’s seal on the Eastern Boundary River!"

Immediately, several Quasi-Saints from different races wanted to rush to aid the Holy Lotus Clan but were stopped by the Grand Divine Minister with a gloomy face.

"Wrong, it’s not the Holy Lotus Clan! Those Eastern Heaven Cultivators don’t have the ability to repair the seal under the noses of the Holy Lotus Three Saints, they must be using unknown methods to use the Heavenly Shadow Clan’s sealing tower." The Grand Divine Minister said gloomily.

"What! Isn’t the Heavenly Shadow Clan’s sealing tower long destroyed!"

"Foolish! Don’t forget what those sealing towers are transformed from, and don’t forget, among the Eastern Heaven Celestial Cultivators, there are people from the Golden Bull Palace! Is it strange that those Heavenly Bull disciples have the ability to repair destroyed sealing towers! Unfortunately, those ants’ plans missed a step, they don’t know the extent of the turmoil that occurred with the Heavenly Shadow Clan’s sealing tower back then! The Heavenly Bull that transformed into this tower has long betrayed its original promise to the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign! Purple Dou Immortal Cultivators want to repair the Immortal Emperor’s seal through this tower? Too bad, so unfortunate! Those Eastern Heaven ants will all be killed by that rebellious Heavenly Bull! They simply cannot repair the seal!"

"What troubles me, isn’t the Eastern Heaven Celestial Cultivators. They do not have the ability to repair the Immortal Emperor’s seal, that’s for certain. The real problem is that rebellious Heavenly Bull! That is an ancient great cultivator! Back then, we lost countless Quasi-Saints to destroy its tower body, even the Heavenly Shadow Clan perished in that battle... Come, notify the Blood God! Tell him that the deadly enemy who severely injured it back then is about to awaken again! The Blood God will definitely be very interested in coming to battle with that rebellious Heavenly Bull!"

...

Everything seemed to proceed smoothly.

The Immortal Emperor’s seal was being repaired methodically by Ning Fan.

Occasionally, when the seal’s power of the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign overflowed and attacked Ning Fan, it was resolved by Ning Fan activating his Eternal True Body.

Though he suffered some injuries, those injuries were far from being fatal.

Perhaps they could cause an ordeal of nine deaths and one life for individuals like Emperor Cang, but they weren’t enough to kill Ning Fan, nor were they enough for killing an ancient great cultivator-level being.

Then the question arises... Who was it that killed those ancient great cultivators among the skeletons on the top of the tower!

In the shadows, it seemed something dangerous lurked, different from the will of the Immortal Emperor, possessing independent consciousness, unknown...

As Ning Fan was pondering, suddenly, an unprecedented sense of danger spread throughout his body.

He suddenly felt darkness before his eyes, then his Eternal True Body transmitted a pain akin to fractured bones, as if something had swallowed him whole, chewing vigorously, instantly dealing a severe blow!

What was it that swallowed him! What was it that easily inflicted such significant harm on him!

He didn’t even have time to resist! Had no time at all!

"Finally, awakened..."

The entire sealing tower suddenly emitted a presence like a living being, accompanied by a voice!