Chapter 9 Dugu

The fragrant quilt, along with warm pillows, helped to contribute to a sleepless night. As morning approached, Zhihe finally slept from exhaustion with a shy and satisfied expression.

As for Ning Fan, although he was not pleased, he couldn't bear to wake her up.

The Vein Opening Dan could wait until Zhihe was awake again.

After caressing Zhihe's tiny face and covering her with a blanket, Ning Fan got dressed and gently pushed the door to go outside, standing quietly in the snowy courtyard.

Following the passionate night with Zhihe, using his dual cultivation technique, which caused Zhihe to release all of her Yin energy and resolve her Bewitching Physique, made Ning Fan open two new evil veins in just one night.

Just one more vein and he would be able to enter the second level of the Vein Opening realm.

Zhihe's natural born Bewitching Physique seemed to have a great effect with the Yin Yang Transformation.

However, the more unexpected thing was that after one night, Zhihe also opened two veins. Going from a mortal directly to a first level Vein Opening cultivator caused Ning Fan to be shocked.

Ordinary dual cultivation merit laws either sacrificed Yin to reinforce Yang or sacrificed Yang to reinforce Yin. All of them steal the essence of others and hurts them to benefit oneself. However, the Yin Yang Transformation increased both the man and woman''s cultivation at the same time. Well, simply put, it was a technique that would benefit all of humanity…

One was a cultivator of the Yin Yang Transformation with the Yin Yang Evil Vein while the other was a natural born Bewitching Physique as a cauldron. They were the perfect match.

"Only one more immortal vein to advance to the second level of the Vein Opening realm, I wonder if the Vein Opening Dan would allow me to reach the second level in one go?"

Ning Fan took out two jade containers from his chest; there were seventy dans altogether. Some were refined by him while others were given to him by the old monster's sect.

Ordinary people would take at least a month to refine this dan, and at least several months for a batch.

Ning Fan, on the other hand, had an Immemorial Evil Vein, so his dan refinement speed was much faster than the average person's. More experiments would be needed to find the specific time.

Ning Fan sat cross-legged on the snowy ground. He took one dan and rapidly processed the medicine's effect.

As the medicine entered his dantian, its medicinal effect was instantly refined and rapidly circulated the Yin Yang Evil Vein before being absorbed by Ning Fan. In the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, it was completely refined by Ning Fan!

So fast! It was just one incense stick of time yet he was still able to refine an entire Vein Opening Dan!

Ning Fan was quite shocked. According to the Seven Apricot Record, even Immemorial Evil Veins would take half a day or so to completely refine a Vein Opening Dan. However, with his Yin Yang Evil Vein, he only needed an incense stick of time to thoroughly absorb the pills energy. It was countless times faster than other Immemorial Evil Veins.

It was truly inconceivable!

Could it be that his Yin Yang Evil Vein was more powerful than the other Immemorial Evil Veins?

This notion only appeared for a moment in Ning Fan's thoughts before it was quickly suppressed with a wry laugh.

Immemorial Evil Veins often had special abilities.

Cultivators with the Immemorial Fire Vein had innate powerful abilities in controlling fire and were capable of communicating with the Fire God to have even more innate skills.

Cultivators with the Immemorial Thunder Vein were adept at controlling lightning, and as for the other Immemorial Evil Vein cultivators, they all also had remarkable abilities

However, Ning Fan's Yin Yang Evil Vein had yet to show any other special abilities in addition to faster cultivation speed.

At the very least, it refined dan quickly. This would always be advantageous.

Ning Fan once again took another Vein Opening Dan and started his refinement. After an incense stick's worth of time, the fourth vein was successfully formed, meaning that Ning Fan's Vein Opening realm reached the second level!

Take a dan, open a vein! Take a dan, open a vein! In the wind and snow, no one noticed Ning Fan's cultivation was rapidly increasing at an alarming rate.

After refining seven Vein Opening Dan, Ning Fan opened up nine immortal veins and broke through to the third level!

After taking in twenty-two more dan, Ning Fan opened up sixteen more immortal veins and reached the fourth level!

As the number of internal immortal veins increased, the effect of the Vein Opening Dan appeared to be less effective, and more of them were required to open up new veins.

After taking the seventieth dan, Ning Fan successfully formed the thirty-third vein. This was much more than the twenty-five veins needed for the fifth level of the Vein Opening realm!

A thirty-three vein cultivator! Vein Opening fifth level!

Compared to the first level of the Vein Opening realm, Ning Fan's magical power dramatically increased several times. His strength naturally improved a lot as well.

It was almost noon. In just one morning, Ning Fan's cultivation had increased to the fifth level Vein Opening! This speed, when compared to the half year limit given to him by the old monster, was countless times faster!

This was the Yin Yang Evil Vein's heavenly talents with its truly dreadful cultivation speed.

He took a deep breath and raised his hand. The Evil Flame burned from his finger into several flowers. At this moment, he was able to use the Evil Flame as his heart desired, without the slightest bit of sluggishness.

His cultivation only needed enough dan to create the required one hundred veins to step into the tenth level of the Vein Opening realm in a very short time!

Then, with a fortuitous opportunity, he could step into the Harmonious Spirit realm and be able to void step in the air, truly becoming a genuine expert capable of soaring over both heaven and earth!

"I want to rescue Ning Gu from the Heaven Separation Evil Sect, and this would require at least a Harmonious Spirit cultivation. Many ordinary cultivators could spend their whole lives being unable to reach the Harmonious Spirit realm. However, I am different; I have the Immemorial Evil Vein and the memories of the Immortal Emperor, so I will reach the Harmonious Spirit realm very soon! Ning Gu, wait for me, I will certainly take you back, and we will return home together!"

Ning Fan was just talking to himself, but outside the walls came the cold voice of a lady.

"The Heaven Separation Evil Sect is not so simple. So what if you reach the Harmonious Spirit realm? Harmonious Spirit cultivators would simply die by going there… Gold Core experts going there would also face grave dangers. With your cultivation, I'm afraid you will never be able to save your brother!"

Then, the footstep sounds of the lady gradually disappeared.

Who was it?!

Ning Fan left the snowy courtyard and only saw the shadow of a lady in the far distance.

This girl was dressed in white, with sweet and slender shoulders. Her black hair was tied up high like the clouds, and her thin waist could be held in just one hand. She stood in the chilly wind and snow, only leaving behind a shadow for Ning Fan.

She felt Ning Fan chasing behind so she paused her feet and looked back. Her fine, black hair was as smooth as a waterfall. With a decorating apricot flower, her hair carried a faint fragrance. She also possessed an indescribably proud and aloof coldness.

"You are not allowed to follow me!"

It was a clear rejection. The lady's gaze was like a sword sweeping through Ning Fan's face, giving him some uncomfortable pain.

"Ghost?! Monster?"

The lady moved to an apricot tree and suddenly disappeared. Her figure, like a cold fog, dissipated without a trace.

Ning Fan halted his steps and stared fixedly at the apricot tree as he pondered about the identity of the lady.

Under the tree was a short grave with two words delicately carved by a sword that still carried its intention.

Dugu…

Next to the grave was a two zhang tall blue boulder. There were three sword marks on top of the boulder.

These three sword marks were completely different. Standing next to the boulder, he contemplated in silence and did not want to leave for a long time.

Inside the grave came the impatient voice of a girl:

"Why are you still here! Han Yuanji's disciple, you standing in front of my house annoys me, you know?!"

"These sword marks were left by you?

Ning Fan did not leave. Instead, he looked towards the grave and asked.

"So what if they were? You don't understand the sword… You are Han Yuanji's disciple, you are definitely not anything good…! Leave quickly; don't make me angry or I'll cut off your head!"

This lady seemed to dislike the old monster. Ning Fan shook his head. This lady was like a ghost and was living in a grave. It couldn't be that this innocent girl was murdered by the old monster, right?

Ning Fan didn't know that this lady not only had a preconceived prejudice against the old monster, but she also hated him as well.

This lady's grave was right next to Ning Fan's bedroom. For two consecutive nights, she heard the sound of the entanglement between Ning Fan and Zhihe. The noise left her sleepless throughout the entire night, so she was very agitated.

In her mind, Ning Fan was just a scoundrel with an excessive libido and nothing more. This scoundrel couldn't possibly comprehend the sword, so he had no qualification to stay in front of the grave.

"Hmph! He is staying here only because he saw my beautiful looks and wanted to hit on me. If I ignore him, he will become bored and leave."

The lady thought this and didn't say anything else afterwards. The grave became silent without any noise, only the sounds of the wind and snow were present.

Unfortunately, Ning Fan still didn't leave even when she ignored him.

He stood in front of the boulder as if he were meditating and hesitating. The three sword marks on the blue stone seemed to have an indescribable magical power, and did not allow him to avert his gaze.

Through the three sword marks, he seemed to be able to see a great heroic lady, with an apricot flower on her hair, next to her temple, performing a sword dance while flying fast in the windy snow.

Each move and each style was exceptionally vivid at first, but they gradually became impossible to discern clearly.

After a long time, Ning Fan suddenly stretched his hand forward and touched the first sword mark on the boulder.

His action was outside of the lady's expectations and caused her to immediately shout:

"You are not allowed to touch the sword mark! Stop moving your hand! If you are to touch it, I will kill you!"

The three sword marks were related to her vow, how could she let men touch them so easily!

"Just don't touch it, don't touch it!"

Ning Fan wrinkled his brows and withdrew his palm, then turned around to leave. The lady in turn was left with an unfathomable feeling in her heart.

Although this person was very beautiful, her temper was too eccentric. Dugu, Dugu(1), could it be that these two words were her name? Even her name was indeed very reclusive.

He simply wanted to feel the sword mark with his hand to appreciate the intent of the sword, yet this lady went so far as to shout that she would kill him.

Truly a bizarre ghost!

After Ning Fan left, the lady suddenly appeared. Her eyes flashed proudly towards the sword marks and Ning Fan's figure in the distance, then she softly snorted.

Fortunately, she was able to stop Ning Fan from feeling the sword intent. Otherwise, it would have been troublesome.

The three swords were parts of her trial, and couldn't easily be touched by a man.

After a while! The first sword mark disappeared!

The lady looked at the blue boulder in complete astonishment. The first sword mark on top of the boulder actually disappeared!

Ning Fan actually touched this sword mark! The sword mark disappeared without a trace and was taken by Ning Fan.

The lady almost started crying!

Shameless thief! He truly was a disciple of Han Yuanji; he actually stole the sword mark!

Fortunately, two marks still remained out of the three. She had to keep a good watch to ensure that they wouldn't be stolen by Ning Fan!

If someone could successfully take away her three sword marks, then she would have to marry the man as his wife. This was the oath she made that year in front of this grave. Fortunately, Ning Fan didn't take away all of them…

After leaving the young ghost lady, Ning Fan went to look for Zhihe. She still hadn't woken up yet, so he walked to the dan refinement room and started to prepare a dan cauldron once again.

He did not realize that the sword intent belonging to the girl was now in his body. This sword mark above the blue boulder was inadvertently removed by Ning Fan, and it was gradually being refined and mastered.

This time, Ning Fan tried to make a Three Revolution Dan. Unfortunately, as he was starting it, the cauldron exploded.

The cauldron did not explode because of a dan refining failure, but because the hidden sword intent in his body suddenly felt the temperature of the fire and rushed out of his body. This one sword shattered the old monster's medicine cauldron!

Since the medicine cauldron was broken, Ning Fan was unable to continue making more dan.

The explosion from the sword ray fragmented the medicine cauldron and even spread towards the entire dan refinement house—all with just one sword. It cut the huge room into two pieces, and the sword rushed straight up to the sky with a deafening noise that resonated across all of Seven Apricot City in a split second!

"Cauldron exploding?"

While drinking in his room, the old monster was suddenly startled. He opened the door and rushed to the dan refinement room.

He knew that Ning Fan was busy with refining dan, but he never expected for Ning Fan to trigger an explosion of the medicine cauldron.

'The sword ray that pierced the sky was a bit familiar. Wait, this is the sword technique of the little girl, Dugu!"

"Wait, this is the Fire Transformation Sword! This is not Little Girl Dugu's doing, ah! How did Little Brat Ning do it! He doesn't have any ridiculous relation with Little Girl Dugu, right?"

The old monster's heart was at a loss, and his chrysanthemum flower-like face wrinkled into the shape of a cleaning rag.

In his entire life, he only loved one lady, and Dugu was this lady's only little sister.

"Little Brat Ning and Little Girl Dugu in a relationship... Then I would lose my master seniority! He shouldn't have removed all of Little Girl Dugu's sword marks, right?"

The old monster was very worried about this.

Whoever took her three sword marks would be Little Girl Dugu's husband. This was her oath before the grave!

If Ning Fan took all of the sword marks, he would become Dugu's husband and would be the brother-in-law of the old monster. Damn it! If his disciple turned into his brother-in-law, then he—as the master—would lose all face!

'No, I must prevent this from happening! Oh, wait, this guy's aura, he is already at the fifth level of the Vein Opening realm!"

The old monster was unable to conceal his happiness and was grinning from ear to ear!

Just after one day, he went from the first level to the fifth level of the Vein Opening realm. What is this cultivation speed! In the old monster's experience, this was the first time he had heard of such a thing!

He casually picked up a disciple along the way, yet it seemed that this disciple's innate aptitude was too demonic!

Note: 

(1) Du = alone, gu = lonely. Dugu = even more solitary. Moreover, Dugu is a character from Return of the Condor Heroes, the name of a swordsman who never lost during his life, and was always searching for someone who could defeat him but failed

Credit: (the former team)

Bao (TL)

Chi (Honorable Editor)

Nerebear (E)

Nahct (E)

Lace1010 (TLC)

Wayfinder (E)