Beneath his feet lay an endless expanse of red earth continent.

In his ears, there was the dead silence without a whisper of wind.

The sky was a vast, boundless starry dome, formed by countless specks of starlight.

Ning Fan’s form of a primordial spirit had rushed into this strange land for three days. This bizarre place was the mouthworld of that giant head.

His physical body was bound by the golden hoop, unable to move, left in the world outside.

His primordial spirit plunged alone into this strange land, intending to bring back the Emperor Butcher or the sword ancestor from here.

On this journey, Ning Fan’s Prime Souls Body carried the God-Extinguishing Shield and the storage pouch, but didn’t bring the Yin Yang Locket, leaving it within the Dantian of his physical body instead.

He did not know if he could bring back the Emperor Butcher on this trip, nor whether the endeavor would succeed, whether he could survive, or see daylight again. If this attempt failed and he perished here, he could not let countless cauldrons in the Xuan Yin Treasure be buried in nothingness with him.

Upon entering this strange land, he even managed to slightly suppress the life-linked restrictions of slave prohibitions, thereby preventing any lethal consequences to Burying Moon, Wu Laoba, and others, even if he were to die...

Yes, he entered this strange place with the resolve to die. The crisis sensation from this place gave him not even the slightest chance of survival...

Entering this place was undoubtedly the most unwise decision he had made in his life.

Even with such a minuscule chance, he would still attempt it. He was unwilling to watch the Emperor Butcher vanish before his eyes.

Though he had moments of passion with the Emperor Butcher, it was not a reason for him to act with such reckless abandon. Indeed, even if it were just an ordinary cauldron experiencing such a fate, Ning Fan’s stubbornness would drive him to rescue it at all costs. The outcome would be the same, but if it were just any ordinary woman, it would not ignite such a burning emotion in his heart.

I don’t understand, I don’t understand...

At this moment, Ning Fan couldn’t fathom his own heart. Although he had many beauties around him, if asked who he shared the deepest feelings with, it would definitely be his first woman—paper crane.

It’s not that other women were lacking, but his connection with the paper crane originated from its humble beginnings, a relationship born from poverty, which was his first in this life, thus most cherished, granted a weight incomparable to others.

Mu Weiliang, Mistress Qiuling, Luo You... There were many women he considered as dear as life itself. He wasn’t a good man, not even a good person...

Yet for the first time in his life, Ning Fan discovered there was a woman in this world who meant something different to him than all the others.

This difference had nothing to do with feelings; his emotions for the Emperor Butcher were far from the heaviest among the women.

The Emperor Butcher brought him an indescribable feeling.

An inexplicable closeness, a heartfelt gratitude, and a debt that even endless reincarnations could not repay...

Yes, it is a debt...

Only at this moment did Ning Fan slightly understand why the Emperor Butcher’s presence was the most special to him.

The Emperor Butcher certainly wasn’t the person he’d loved most deeply.

But most likely... she was the woman he owed the most in both past and present lives!

"I have this feeling that in my past life, I owed her immensely, to the point that even through countless reincarnations, my soul could not let go of this matter."

"At Corpse Bone Mountain, when I saw the sword ancestor’s remains dissipate before my eyes, utterly powerless to stop it, I felt lifeless, quite baffling; this time, as I saw the Emperor Butcher vanish, I wished to overturn the entire world... Such a maddening thought seems born of my heart, but perhaps, it is not... Maybe it is a remnant of the manic emotions you left deep in my soul, from the lifetime when I flew out of the Butterfly Hometown..."

"The Emperor Butcher is the sword ancestor. The sword ancestor, she, died countless years ago. The Ultimate Affection forming the Emperor Butcher’s body was the last trace of affection the sword ancestor left in this world..."

"What is that speck of light swallowed by the giant head... The mysterious Saint who stopped me said I was interfering with the sword ancestor’s Dao Lineage returning. What is Dao Lineage..."

Ning Fan’s form of primordial spirit traveled across the dark red continent, sticking close to the ground, not daring to fly too high, for fear of touching the stars above.

The stars in this strange land wielded immeasurable power every moment, and once, when he carelessly got too close, a star cut through with destructive starlight, even piercing a hole in the God-Extinguishing Shield, with his spirit body almost fatally injured by that starlight...

Even recklessly using spirit sense here could trigger an attack from the mysterious stars.

Subsequently, Ning Fan consumed a massive amount of expensive pills to suppress his injuries, but could only barely manage it, unable to make any recovery on his wounds. The wound seemed to be torn open by a force he couldn’t comprehend, incapable of closing, a force Ning Fan encountered for the first time.

Thereafter, for three days, he blindly searched here, unable to find any light points of the Emperor Butcher scattered into the world, as he couldn’t spread his spirit sense widely.

The configuration of this realm was constantly changing from the moment he entered, with no way to retrace his path home.

Fourth day.

Ning Fan still couldn’t find Emperor Tu.

His Primordial Spirit Essence Blood began evaporating in this strange land, causing constant pain.

On the fifth day.

His primordial spirit had shrunk significantly, now only half its original size, and its aura was extremely weak. Yet, he stubbornly continued searching in this place.

On the sixth day.

Ning Fan’s primordial spirit finally failed him, collapsing to the ground as the Fragment of Divine Annihilation Shield and storage pouch fell onto the red earth.

The seventh day, the eighth day, the ninth day...

Ning Fan never woke up again.

His primordial spirit blood was completely dried up, and the extremely shrunken primordial spirit finally transformed into vapor, dissipating into this strange land, blending into the void.

"Only nine days, and he’s already dead? If he can’t hold on for twenty-two days, even if I wanted to help, I’d be helpless. After all, the Dreamland Realm is too far, too far from me... I need time to comprehend the two realms..." The Saint Caiwei sighed regrettably in the endless starry sky, her voice seemingly coming from an extremely distant place, which the deceased Ning Fan naturally couldn’t hear.

On the tenth day.

On the eleventh day.

The storage pouch lying quietly suddenly emitted a beam of moonlight.

At the moment this moonlight appeared, the time power of the surrounding space strangely reversed!

"Prajna Paramita..."

This was the mantra Ning Fan had set in the storage pouch earlier, taking effect with a delay!

Under the time reversal, Ning Fan’s fallen primordial spirit gradually restored and rebuilt.

Finally, Ning Fan, who had died on the ninth day, resurrected on the eleventh day!

"That was close! If I hadn’t invoked the true name of the Moonlight Treasure Box before attacking the Holy Mountain, I would probably be dead in this strange land right now." Ning Fan remarked with lingering fear, his dread for this strange land reaching unprecedented heights.

His primordial spirit’s small hand summoned the storage pouch and Fragment of Divine Annihilation Shield into his arms, binding the small shield to his chest like a slightly protruding chest armor; the storage pouch was carried on his back.

He then took out the Moonlight Treasure Box from the storage pouch, inspecting it closely, and discovered that the Will of the Saint within the box had been consumed by one-fourth due to his resurrection!

This meant the remaining Will of the Saint was only enough to allow him to die three more times in this place...

The so-called Moonlight Treasure Box was actually the true name of the Pig Face Treasure Box. When Ning Fan awakened his ability for Communication with All Things, he heard its true name from the box.

It was quite miraculous.

Before knowing its true name, the steps to use the Moonlight Treasure Box were extremely complicated, requiring a pre-set marking in a certain area before use.

After Ning Fan learned the true name of the Moonlight Treasure Box, he experienced a strange feeling of unity between the person and the box when using it. Now, even without pre-set markings, it could be used anywhere and anytime, without any restrictions on usage count or cooldown times.

From then on, the Moonlight Treasure Box had two distinct modes of use: the normal marked usage and the true name state unmarked usage.

Unmarked usage comes with three considerations.

First, it can only allow Ning Fan, as the owner of the treasure box, to time-reverse individually, unlike the marked use which can alter the time of all surrounding people or things. This means Ning Fan can resurrect through unmarked time reversal, but others cannot, unless pre-marked.

Second, unmarked usage consumes a significant amount of the Will of the Saint inside the Moonlight Treasure Box, several times more than marked usage. If the level of attack causing death is too high, the consumption increases...

Third, unmarked resurrection has a certain delay in time, be it one or two hours, or one or two days, depending on the surrounding environment and cause of death, the resurrection delay is not fixed.

This is why Ning Fan was delayed by two days before being resurrected by the Moonlight Treasure Box.

"Oh? You actually resurrected using the Moonlight Treasure Box of the Taiyin Holy Sect? I thought you were already dead in this place, but it seems I underestimated you." Saint Caiwei’s voice echoed throughout the heavens with a hint of surprise.

Ning Fan’s small face on his primordial spirit stiffened, as he stored the Moonlight Treasure Box back in his storage pouch, cautiously spreading his spirit sense in this place. The range of his spirit sense was too limited, naturally unable to find the hiding place of the speaker.

"Withdraw your spirit sense, don’t let it spread beyond ten feet!" Saint Caiwei’s voice, slightly kind, advised.

Ning Fan was suddenly startled.

The voice that was advising him now was clearly from the mysterious saint who had previously stopped him from gathering Emperor Tu’s remnant soul with the Fu Li Spirit Wheels.

Why did this person kindly remind him...

Was it truly a goodwill gesture, or was there another motive...

Ning Fan had been manipulated too many times; facing a mysterious sage of unknown origin, he naturally maintained great vigilance.

Despite his vigilance, he still heeded the advice and restricted his spirit sense to within ten zhang or so, refraining from searching broadly for the whereabouts of this mysterious sage. After all, he could discern that this place was not suitable for excessively spreading out one’s spirit sense.

"This is the Netherworld, the place where all supreme beings who once possessed the Taoist lineage of Heaven and Earth return after death. Every star here is transformed from a sage of the most powerful kind upon their death, and even some stars are transformed from a Fourth Step Immortal Emperor. Do not approach those stars; even though you possess one of the fragments of the Ancient Kingdom’s God-Destroying Shield, before those stars, you are still as insignificant as an ant. You must approach with reverence."

Netherworld?

It was Ning Fan’s first time hearing this term, and his heart was stirred.

"In this place, you cannot tell others your name, for even the most potent Desolate Saint among the sages will never leave and will be eternally trapped by the Walls of the Netherworld. If you wish to find someone, you cannot call out their name, otherwise, the person you wish to find will be forever unfindable. Remember, remember... Names surpass both reality and fantasy; they are the essence of the existence of Masters in the eyes of the Netherworld. You may not understand, but you cannot defy this." Saint Caiwei continued.

Is it true that names cannot be casually shouted here?

Ning Fan did not doubt the authenticity of Saint Caiwei’s words; after all, it seemed unnecessary for her to deceive him on such matters.

He felt somewhat relieved inwardly, having searched for Emperor Tu throughout the Netherworld without uttering a single word. Had he accidentally called out Emperor Tu or Sword Ancestor’s names, it would have indeed been troublesome...

"Thank you for your pointers, Senior." Ning Fan remained cautious but still expressed his gratitude towards the boundless stars.

"You need not thank me; I am not helping you, but merely dealing with my own karma. The layout of the Netherworld; what you see is all illusion. If you are not a Desolate Saint, traversing the Netherworld, you will never find a way out. I cannot guide you because the layout of the Netherworld appears differently in each person’s eyes... But I can offer you some guidance; the celestial layout of the Netherworld, the numerical layout is nine..."

Base nine?

Ning Fan was surprised and then became serious, his Spirit eyes radiating azure spikes as he began to view the world using calculations in base nine, immediately perceiving it differently.

Silently, the Momentum Character Secret was activated.

Ning Fan needed no further reminders from Saint Caiwei; he determined a direction and swiftly left, veering left and right as he sped along.

The twelfth day, the thirteenth day, the fourteenth day... The twentieth day!

Ning Fan’s Spirit collapsed again, falling once more, and was resurrected on the twenty-second day using the Moonlight Treasure Box.

"The remaining Will of the Saint... It’s enough to resurrect me two more times here... The level of this place is too high, and using the Moonlight Treasure Box for resurrection consumes too much..."

Ning Fan’s heart was exceedingly heavy as he continued on.

On the twenty-fifth day, from the boundless Netherworld ahead, a strange fragrance suddenly reached Ning Fan’s nose.

No one knew what emitted that strange fragrance, but just a sniff caused Ning Fan’s originally weakened and shrunken Spirit to restore directly to its normal size, his aura bright and no longer weak!

Revitalized, he continued his journey, and the further he went, the stronger the fragrance became.

On the twenty-eighth day, before his eyes appeared a colossal illusory ancient tree, adorned with fruits resembling infant forms.

Countless glowing sparks coalesced into fireflies, parasitically dwelling on the colossal ancient tree.

Beneath the tree stood a sage in a Taoist robe with his back to him. This sage was not in physical form but a phantom formed by the force of a primordial spirit. When Ning Fan arrived, the sage turned around with some surprise.

"Remarkable, I only gave you a few pointers, and you relied on your momentum to comprehend this and reach this place. In terms of bloodline qualification, you might belong to the most inferior class among cultivators, but in terms of methods, even among Ancient Immortal Lords, few could achieve this..."

"Junior Ning... Junior, greets Senior. Thank you for your guidance." Ning Fan couldn’t hide his excitement. Having arrived at this ancient tree, he could distinctly sense among the multitude of parasitic fireflies one whose aura resembled that of Emperor Tu and Sword Ancestor!

Finally... found!

Due to overwhelming excitement, he almost forgot Saint Caiwei’s reminder, nearly revealing his true name. Fortunately, he caught himself just in time, preventing any disastrous consequences.

Saint Caiwei praised Ning Fan briefly and then said nothing more. In her view, although Ning Fan was an extraordinary being of Ancient Immortal Lord caliber, that was all; the praise she had was still far from being truly impressive.

After all, there are countless Ancient Immortal Lords of Ning Fan’s caliber in the Real Realms...

"I’ve heard of you, Vast Expanse Butterfly. Back in the days of Purple Mountain Dou Sea, that master personally stepped forward, requesting the Saint’s sect to grant a batch of Purple Astral Immortal Cultivators an opportunity to reincarnate. Among them was a mundane Butterfly with no cultivation, which shocked the entire Third World. Some even guessed that the Ancient Ten Spirits of Zi Dou Immortal Domain were not the master’s retinue but that you and those Purple Astral Immortal Cultivators were. Yet later, none of you emerged from Dreamland Realm’s reincarnation and returned to the Real Realms. Only then did everyone realize they overestimated you all who entered Dreamland Realm for reincarnation..."

Ning Fan remained silent; he had no interest in such secrets.

"Do you know how reckless you are, barging into the Netherworld with Second Step cultivation, haha... Although you possess a fragment of the Ancient Kingdom’s God-Destroying Shield and have the Taiyin Holy Sect’s Moonlight Treasure Box in your grasp, your cultivation is too weak, making this a sure-death scenario. Without my intervention in this matter, you would have absolutely scattered your soul in the Netherworld. Is that woman someone so significant for you that you’re willing to risk scattering your soul to find her back?" Saint Caiwei sighed.

"I don’t know whether she is significant to me. Seeking her here is instinctual, it’s a kind of... reparation." Ning Fan calmly replied.

That sense of calm is only because he owes the sword ancestor too much in this life and the last. If he truly cannot save her, there is an instinct that will make him willingly bury himself with the sword ancestor in this boundless Netherworld as a funeral.

"Repayment? How do you plan to repay her, by taking her residual soul away from here?"

"Yes."

"Do you know that she died back then to protect your reincarnation? Today, when she is placed back in the Dao lineage of the Netherworld, it only contains the tiniest shred of her soul. If the soul power of a complete soul is a million units, the soul you absorbed today doesn’t even reach ten units. And even for these ten units, the Netherworld will not allow you to take them all away. Even if I help you deceive the heavens, at most, you can only take away one-thousandth of these ten units... Such a small amount of soul is almost useless. And to take away this amount, the price you may have to pay is your life..."

Ning Fan seemed not to hear Caiwei Saint’s words, remaining peaceful as he gazed at one of the countless fireflies around the ancient tree.

"The soul you can take is too little, and more importantly, the Dao lineage, you cannot take any part of it. What do you intend to do with so few souls? Resurrect her? Even if you’ve cultivated the first wheel of the Five Spirit Wheels, even reaching the legendary fourth wheel, it still cannot be done because her soul is already not whole."

"... Ning Fan remained silent.

From what Caiwei Saint means, even if he takes away Emperor Tu’s soul today, he cannot bring it back to life.

But if he doesn’t try, he will not be reconciled.

"I say this not to stop you but just to give you mental preparation. As a Saint, I can see the fate destiny of all cultivators of the second step. Your destinies with her do not intersect, unless you become stronger than fate destiny, otherwise, you cannot change this matter."

"... Ning Fan still remained silent.

Caiwei Saint looked deep into Ning Fan’s eyes, as if recognizing him anew, and praised, "What a determined little fellow. Not even a bit of my words could sway you, could they?"

"Yes."

"What do you plan to do next?"

"Try to take away the firefly that her residual soul has transformed into!"

"Take it away whole? I already told you, you can only take away one-thousandth... Well, you’re such a stubborn lad, anyways your treasure box’s power still allows you to come back to life twice. Unless you yourself realize the difficulty of this matter, you won’t turn back."

As Caiwei Saint’s sigh fell, Ning Fan turned into a shadow, rushing towards the ancient tree, his figure soared, intending to capture the firefly transformed from Emperor Tu’s residual soul.

At this moment, the whole ancient tree suddenly exuded a vast aura!

Then, an inconceivable scene unfolded on the boundless dark red continent. Palm patterns began to appear, then transformed into a boundless giant palm that gripped tightly, countless Dao marks beyond Ning Fan’s understanding appeared between heaven and earth!

Ning Fan only felt darkness before his eyes, before he could touch the firefly, he was gripped to death within the giant palm the continent transformed into!

That was a strike beyond the Third Step!

That was a strike surpassing most Fourth Step Immortal Emperors!

To kill Ning Fan... is like killing an ant!

After the blow, the entire Netherworld returned to its original state, with Caiwei Saint and the ancient tree still in the same place, as if they hadn’t moved at all, as if the entire continent transforming into a palm was just an illusion, not affecting these existences, only targeting Ning Fan.

On the thirtieth day, Ning Fan resurrected in the moonlight.

The remaining will of the treasure box was only enough for him to resurrect one last time in this place...

Ning Fan’s little spirit face looked extremely unpleasant, he was unwilling to acknowledge but had to admit, now he couldn’t take away any of Emperor Tu’s residual soul previously absorbed by this place.

No, he couldn’t even take away one-thousandth...

"After the Saint realm, there are the Initial Saint, Nirvana Saint, and Desolate Saint realms. I am a Desolate Saint, among them a remarkable one, yet even a being such as I strive to the utmost can only help you take away a little residual soul. After this matter, I would face severe chastisement... As for you, this matter is beyond your ability, this is not something courage or determination can resolve, I hope you can face reality," sighed Caiwei Saint.

"... Would this matter implicate Senior too? Why would Senior want to help me?" Ning Fan’s expression became complex. If he needed Caiwei Saint’s power to take away even the slightest portion of Emperor Tu’s soul, if this matter might bring punishment to Caiwei Saint, then Ning Fan must reconsider Caiwei’s stance.

He could sacrifice his life for Emperor Tu, but he wouldn’t want this matter to involve others’ karma.

"I said, this is not helping you, it’s resolving my own karmic debts. It’s my choice for future progress to the Fourth Step. Beings like me find it hard to help others out of friendship or admiration, everything is about interest, everything is just interest, you don’t owe me anything, nor do you need to feel indebted. Of course, don’t expect me to make greater sacrifices for you..."

"Senior’s meaning, Junior understands. Then what should Junior do next to take away a little of her soul?"

"Next, I will use the power of primordial spirit to battle against the whole Netherworld, you protect me! Don’t be afraid of injury, within the aroma range of this Netherworld Divine Tree, any second-step injuries can heal instantly! You can fight to death!"

Upon saying this, Caiwei Saint’s expression became serious, hands flying with countless spirit sense shadows, instantaneously forming thousands of spirit sense. In a flash, the entire Netherworld shook, with a hundred thousand ancient phantoms drifting from beneath the Netherworld, all wearing ancient garments! Each carried a mighty aura, at least at the Second Step of cultivation, including several hundreds of Immortal Emperor cultivators, among them the Quasi-Saint, Ancient Great Cultivator!

"Be cautious, the first group of Netherworld phantoms is left by the disciples who were buried here after the Dao lineage Saints returned to their position, immortal and indestructible! I must battle against this Nether Star, without distraction, these Netherworld phantoms are for you to handle! Remember not to let these phantoms get half a step near me, affecting my actions! Otherwise, I can only express regret and will no longer be able to assist you in taking away even a shred of the soul, you will have to leave swiftly!"