On this day, the True Lightning World, which had remained calm for a billion years, finally faced a great upheaval!

In the snowy territories of the True Lightning Clan, countless members looked up in fear at the sky, which was continuously collapsing, unable to stop trembling.

The sky was shattering!

Countless thunderbolts were being dispersed by someone using Great Divine Power!

The torrential rain and black night filled the entire True Lightning World!

The world shook, and the earth trembled!

"What’s happening? Is the True Lightning World really going to collapse, is the end of the world coming?" For the members of the True Lightning Clan, who had been enslaved for a billion years, the apocalyptic scene before them sparked cries of fear.

Even the two Immortal Kings of the True Lightning Clan, Jin Lei and Mu Lei, were terrified by the impending doom of the world.

Only Fei Feng understood what the present scene signified. Tears flowed from her cloudy eyes.

"Taisu, can you see it? Our True Lightning Clan can finally escape this world... The young friend you found is a great benefactor to our entire clan..."

"How I wish you could see this scene... A billion years, our True Lightning Clan waited a billion years for this day of freedom..."

"So tired, so tired... To protect the clan you loved deeply, I have supported them alone for so long. Now I can finally put down the burden, freed from suffering, suppressing my immortal lifespan, I can finally come to find you..."

Fei Feng’s vision began to blur, and in the wind and snow, it seemed as if she returned to her youth, once again seeing a young boy named Taisu carrying her, protecting her injured leg, struggling through the snow.

[Silly Feng’er, how many times do I have to tell you to understand that you, a girl, going alone to the snowy valley to pick herbs, is very dangerous! If I hadn’t arrived in time, you would have been eaten by that snow bear!]

[Humph! It’s because Brother Taisu failed to keep his promise, clearly agreeing to accompany Feng’er to the snowy valley, yet you stood me up... Brother Taisu always lies.]

[This time it’s really something important, next time, I will definitely accompany you...]

...

Time silently slipped by.

A month later, at the Slaughter Hall of Eastern Heaven, a new force suddenly joined, led by the Immortal Kings Jin Lei and Mu Lei of the True Lightning Sect.

No one knew that the True Lightning Clan, sealed for years, had finally been liberated.

No one knew that on the day the True Lightning Clan gained freedom, an old woman dispersed all her cultivations and returned to the void.

The True Lightning Clan was saved, but Immortal King Fei Feng had self-exterminated.

No, to describe it as self-extermination is not accurate; in truth, Immortal King Fei Feng’s immortal lifespan had long since exhausted, her bodily functions nearly spent, merely surviving in the world forcefully through a Secret Technique that came at a great cost.

When the True Lightning Clan was finally rescued, when she learned Taisu would never return, she had no more reason to endure or wait and finally could set down all burdens and accept her fate...

"I didn’t expect it would end this way. Though the promise was fulfilled, rescuing the True Lightning Clan, I feel no joy at all..."

"Senior Fei Feng, until her death, never saw Senior Taisu again. There’s no greater regret in the world than this..."

Ning Fan led the True Lightning Clan out of the collapsing True Lightning World, returned them to the Slaughter Hall, and then departed once more.

He needed to find a place to thoughtfully digest the mysteries of the Against-Fate Thunder Technique and integrate it into his False Demon Chant.

Fei Feng’s death indeed left Ning Fan feeling wistful, but this is the helplessness on the cultivation road. What right did he have to stop Fei Feng from going to another world to find Taisu...?

This was a kind of martyrdom.

Almost foolish, almost obsessive, yet undeniably moving...

Ning Fan sighed, searching within the vast starry sky of Eastern Heaven, and after a long time, he found a very secluded abandoned star, suitable for researching new techniques.

Following Heavenly Book Transmission, Grand Thousandfold Rainbow, Void God Tree, and Nanhua Old Immortal’s Space-Refining Scripture Fragment, Ning Fan acquired a fifth item—the Against-Fate Thunder Technique.

He had initially cultivated the Against-Fate Thunder Technique to the twenty-first layer, but to deeply comprehend its mysteries, reaching the twenty-first layer was clearly not enough.

Twenty years passed in a flash.

Ning Fan spent twenty years further cultivating the Against-Fate Thunder Technique to the thirty-third layer, finally extracting the profound meaning of the technique and integrating it into the False Demon Chant.

As for the Art of Worm’s Curse inflicted in the True Lightning World, it was also dispelled within these twenty years.

Ultimately, the completion of the False Demon Chant reached ninety-five percent!

"Just a little bit more, and the False Demon Chant research will be complete..."

Ning Fan took out the Treasure-searching Compass, set the direction, and quickly headed for the sixth item he was seeking.

A few days later, his figure appeared on a cultivation star named Black Market Star.

As the name suggests, Black Market Star is the black market of the Eastern Heaven Cultivation World.

Rumor has it that the owner behind Black Market Star is a reclusive Eighth Tribulation Great Emperor, and because of this Great Emperor’s presence, Black Market Star could stand firm, becoming the best place for various demonesses to fence stolen goods.

The Eastern Heaven often sees war, with killing and treasure snatching, sect massacres common occurrences. With plundering, there naturally arises the need to fence stolen goods. Many Evil Lords love frequenting Black Market Star to sell things that cannot be seen in the open.

Ning Fan had not expected that the last item he was searching for would be on Black Market Star. With his perceptive abilities, he could easily sense a very obscure aura belonging to an Immortal Emperor on this Black Market Star, which should presumably be the true owner behind the scenes.

This Immortal Emperor’s aura was somewhat unfamiliar and obviously not someone Ning Fan knew or someone who had participated in the Boundary River war.

The vast majority of Eastern Heaven cultivators had inherited the blood and spirit of their ancestors, but there were exceptions. The hidden owner of Black Market Star was clearly one of those exceptions.

This emperor could be indifferent to the survival of Eastern Heaven, turning a blind eye, focusing solely on running his own small piece of black market business...

"Everyone has their own way of living. What kind of temperament this emperor has is none of my business. As long as he doesn’t interfere with my actions, I’m not inclined to stir up trouble either..."

Ning Fan casually used a small Illusory Art, changing his appearance and aura, and descended onto the largest market on Black Market Star.

The action of changing appearances was naturally to avoid drawing too much attention. With his current reputation and stature in Eastern Heaven, if he landed on Black Market Star without some disguise, it would certainly cause a commotion, much to his exasperation...

Since Ning Fan only casually used a small Illusory Art and did not intend to deceive the owner of Black Market Star, his arrival was immediately sensed by the owner.

"Humph! The master of the Slaughter Hall himself has arrived at my Black Market Star. Could he also be here for that item..."

In a hidden cave somewhere on Black Market Star, a blue-faced, fang-bearing Elder Ling interrupted his meditation, coldly opening his eyes.

He was the hidden owner of Black Market Star, Black Wind Child! A cultivation level of Eternal Eight Tribulations!

In terms of cultivation, he seemed not to be in a position to be disrespectful to Ning Fan, but in reality, he held an extremely lofty status, causing the entire Eastern Heaven Cultivation World to be extremely wary.

He had served the previous Ancestral Emperor from the Eastern Heaven and had been the personal attendant of the Ancestral Emperor, accompanying the Ancestral Emperor to conquer the world and make his presence felt across Eastern Heaven!

Furthermore, there’s a rumor that after the Ancestral Emperor from the Eastern Heaven died, he left a treasure he had used while alive to this person.

No one knew what the treasure actually was.

Throughout the long history, several Immortal Emperors from Eastern Heaven had coveted this person’s treasure, but none had succeeded; furthermore, it was peculiar that those few Immortal Emperors all subsequently disappeared mysteriously, and no one knew where they went.

Some suspected that Black Wind Child had eliminated the Immortal Emperors who coveted his treasure.

Even more bizarrely, those Immortal Emperors who disappeared, their soul plates have yet to fracture, indicating that they are still alive. This conjecture collapses....

But if they are still alive, why would the dignified Immortal Emperors disappear for no reason? Could it be that they have been suppressed in some place by Black Wind Child’s Great Divine Power? Could Black Wind Child really be so formidable!

Thus, the rumors about Black Wind Child grew more numerous, and with the passing of time, no one dared to scheme against his treasure anymore.

Due to Black Wind Child’s fearsome reputation, no other Immortal Emperor of his level ever came to make trouble on his Black Market Star.

On seeing Ning Fan descend on Black Market Star, Black Wind Child instinctively thought Ning Fan wanted to plot against his treasure and secretly harbored a heart of fear.

But he quickly realized he was overthinking it.

Ning Fan seemed to simply want to casually browse his black market, not looking for trouble.

"Humph! If this person really only comes to buy some ordinary items, I can’t be bothered to become hostile with him. But if he dares to covet my Black Wind Gourd, I don’t care whether he is Eastern Heaven Yama or not; I will definitely use the Black Wind Gourd to turn him into a Gourd Blood Spirit!"

...

Of course, Ning Fan was not coming for the Black Wind Gourd, nor was he aware of the various rumors about Black Wind Child.

Following the guidance of the Treasure-searching Compass, Ning Fan weaved through the streets of the black market and finally stopped before a shop with an ominous aura.

[Silent Inquiry Pavilion].

This was the name of the store.

The words "Silent Inquiry" held profound meaning. This shop was a place for disposing of and purchasing stolen goods. Anyone coming to purchase items here must not inquire about the origins of the goods. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Halt!" As Ning Fan stepped onto the shop’s steps, two figures suddenly appeared from thin air, blocking his way.

Blocking Ning Fan were two powerful Enlightenment Old Demons, the gatekeepers of the Silent Inquiry Pavilion, shrouded entirely in black cloaks, their appearances hidden.

At this moment, Ning Fan used Illusory Art to disguise his cultivation, only revealing a Void Fragmentation level, which the two seasoned enlightened guardians couldn’t see through, and they were not planning to let Ning Fan enter the store.

"This shop’s rule is that cultivators of the first step of cultivation shall not take a single step inside the shop!" the two Enlightenment guardians coldly said.

"Oh, is that so..." Ning Fan ignored the impertinence of the two Enlightenment guardians, slightly raised his aura to the peak of Enlightenment and said, "Is this cultivation level sufficient now?"

"Hmm? Peak Crossing Truth Realm... The aura is unfamiliar, since when has Eastern Heaven had such an Enlightenment Old Demon..."

The expressions of the two Enlightenment guardians slightly changed, but they didn’t ask more questions. After a slight hesitation, they finally allowed Ning Fan inside.

The interior of the store was its own space, filled with rows upon rows of thousands of shelves. Each shelf was protected by a Formation, through which one could glimpse various black market goods on the shelves.

Ning Fan cast a glance over the shelves before him and found that the black market goods here were priced noticeably below the normal prices, almost half of the regular price.

In a black market setting, the sources of these goods mostly had issues, so it’s only natural that they are cheaper.

Ning Fan was not the only Master coming here to buy black market goods. Many others were also present, some bringing goods to sell.

Most of these people hid their identities and didn’t want others to know who they really were, avoiding any interaction with each other.

Placed on the outermost layers were mostly the cheap goods, displayed on the lowest-grade silver shelves.

Further inside, there are gold shelves, where most of the high-end items are placed.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the items on the silver shelves are all trash.

Could it be that the owner of this shop never makes mistakes? There will always be some treasures that are dust-covered, that are misjudged in their value...

After years of cultivation, Ning Fan’s ability to communicate with all things had become quite skillful, allowing him to freely send and receive the voices of things within a certain range.

Now, Ning Fan almost always kept a trace of his ability to communicate with all things active, so when passing by the shelves, he could hear the voices of many misjudged items.

"I’m not a Mysterious Crystal Companion Ore, I’m a True Mysterious Ore..." One piece of ore on a silver shelf complained, but alas, besides Ning Fan, no one could hear its grievances.

The label on the ore stated its name as a Mysterious Crystal Companion Ore, priced at twelve million Dao Crystals.

But in fact, it wasn’t a Mysterious Crystal Companion Ore; it was a True Mysterious Ore worth at least sixty million.

"I’m not an ordinary magical treasure, I’m an Offering Vessel of the Spirit Sea Clan..." Another item, a half-destroyed Nirvana Immortal Sword, voiced its displeasure at being wrongly priced.

A half-destroyed Nirvana Immortal Sword wasn’t worth much, nearly considered as trash.

But if this sword had other profound meanings, it certainly shouldn’t be sold at a scrap price, and the shop’s pricing was wrong...

It must be said that Ning Fan’s ability to communicate with all things was extremely useful, almost like a magical skill for picking up bargains on the black market.

Unfortunately, Ning Fan didn’t actually make any moves to purchase those undervalued misjudged items.

Because these things were of no use to him.

Given his current status and wealth, he didn’t need to make money by trading misjudged items, nor was he interested in getting involved in the karma behind them.

The item indicated by the Treasure-searching Compass was located in the deepest corner of the shop on a gold shelf. Ning Fan only wanted to quietly buy this item and leave...

He wanted to act low-key.

Yet unexpectedly!

As Ning Fan brushed past a silver shelf, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, for he heard a different voice from that shelf.

[Little Butterfly, don’t die, don’t leave me... I want you to accompany me to watch the moon over Primeval Mountain, I want to save you, I must save you, even if I have to betray Primeval Immortal Realm and join Zi Dou Immortal Domain, I will save you! No one can stop me!]

An infatuated voice of a woman, as if mad, carried sadness and determination, and directly entered deep into Ning Fan’s divine sense!

That was... the voice of the sword ancestor!

Ning Fan’s expression changed, and he stopped in his tracks.

He didn’t expect to encounter such a situation at this time and place!

As he turned around, on that silver shelf, he saw an ancient fossil.

This fossil seemed like amber, yet it wasn’t. Inside the transparent fossil, a butterfly wing was sealed.

This was the left wing of a butterfly, seemingly cut off directly by a sharp blade, with a clean cut. At the cut, there seemed to have been some Sword Intent, but at this moment, it had all dissipated!

More strangely!

When Ning Fan saw this butterfly fossil, the left wing sealed within it was triggered by the laws of reincarnation and vanished.

This vanishing was not unfamiliar to Ning Fan!

Years ago, he had seen such vanishing in the Through-Sky Stone of the Barbarian Wilderness Ancient Domain, a feeling as if the past and future were meeting, and one side vanished.

And now, it seemed to be the same situation!

So that’s how it is...

So that’s how it is...

Unexpectedly, at an unintentional time and place, he saw... his own wing.

"What happened!"

All the guards of the Silent Inquiry Pavilion were startled by the changes occurring there!

The shelves in the Silent Inquiry Pavilion were equipped with sensing restrictions! As soon as a change occurred with the merchandise, the shop’s guards would immediately detect it!

One by one, the strong guards of the shop flashed to the scene, and when they saw the strange scene on the silver shelf, they were all furious.

The originally for-sale butterfly fossil had been damaged, with the butterfly’s left wing disappearing into thin air!

At this moment, only Ning Fan was present around the shelves!

All the guards concluded that it was Ning Fan who violated the black market’s regulations and stole the butterfly’s left wing from the fossil!

Even though this fossil was of low value in the eyes of the guards, rules are rules, and the black market star’s rules must not be challenged by anyone!

"Who are you! Why are you causing trouble on our Black Market Star! Do you know who the owner of Silent Inquiry Pavilion is! That’s the owner of Black Market Star! If you know what’s good for you, hand over the butterfly’s left wing you stole, otherwise, don’t blame us for acting according to the rules and killing you!" the guards shouted angrily.

As soon as some customers witnessed a disturbance here, they immediately gathered around, their expressions varying, watching the commotion.

"This is a misunderstanding. I didn’t steal the butterfly wings from this fossil; it disappeared on its own..." Ning Fan casually explained.

He was actually too lazy to explain to these people.

Because at this moment, his inner self was completely filled with the shock from this fossil.

Shocked by his encounter with another version of himself.

Even more shocked by the words of the relentless woman within the fossil.

[Little butterfly, don’t die, don’t leave me... I want you to accompany me to see the moon in the Primeval Mountain, I want to save you, I must save you, even if I have to betray the Primeval Immortal Realm and join Zi Dou Immortal Domain to save you! No one can stop!]

It turns out that in the life where he was a butterfly in the Real Realms, he was once obliterated by someone with supreme Sword Intent.

It turns out that the sword ancestor risked everything to try to save him in that life...

Sword Ancestor, Emperor Butcher, Ji Qingling...

What kind of woman are you...

In those days, I was just an ordinary butterfly, why would you risk everything to save me...

Indeed, I owe you a lot of karma.

During the time when I knew nothing, when I was just a regular butterfly...

...

"This, this, this, this butterfly fossil actually..." Far away from the market, Black Wind Child’s gaze first trembled, then he rejoiced.

Back when the remnants of the Yuan Dan Starfield came here to sell this fossil, he had already noticed its extraordinariness. What a joke! Anyone could see that the Sword Intent contained within the fossil was astonishing!

Unfortunately, the Sword Intent on the fossil was too sparse to be used for killing; it could only be used for comprehension.

Comprehension then, if one could comprehend this supreme Sword Intent, undoubtedly, Black Wind Child’s strength would greatly increase.

But sadly, he found that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t comprehend the supreme Sword Intent within the fossil. It was too profound, even a Saint might not be able to grasp a fraction of it.

Moreover, in repeated comprehension attempts, Black Wind Child used up the Sword Intent within the fossil.

Finally, all that was left of the fossil was a shell, only the left wing of the Butterfly remained inside.

There’s no mistake.

That was the left wing of a Butterfly without any research value.

Black Wind Child determined that the fossil had no more use, hence he displayed it intending to sell it cheaply.

His life creed did not allow him to waste any item. Even though this fossil had lost its most precious Sword Intent, becoming almost a mundane object, he had to sell it!

Not a single coin could be wasted, not a single coin could be lost!

Because money is supreme, because money can communicate with gods, and because this was his way!

But he never imagined that what he thought to be useless merchandise would present such a bizarre situation today.

"There’s no mistake! Although I don’t know what Yama Child did to this fossil, undoubtedly, the power that made the butterfly’s left wing disappear was the power of reincarnation laws!"

"Misjudged! Truly misjudged this time! Who would have thought that such an ordinary fossil could hide secrets of reincarnation! If one could understand the reincarnation mystery of this fossil, perhaps one day, I could become another Ancestral Emperor from the Eastern Heaven like my master!"

Black Wind Child’s eyes were filled with greed, his body flickered, and he vanished without a trace.

At the same time, in Silent Inquiry Pavilion, Ning Fan, who didn’t wish to bully, finally yielded to the surrounding guards.

"Since you all believe I stole the butterfly wings from this fossil, how about I buy this fossil? That way, it wouldn’t break the rules of the Black Market Star, right?" Ning Fan sighed.

"This..." The guards hesitated for a moment before saying, "Okay! According to the rules, if caught stealing, a hundredfold payment is required to avoid death. This fossil is priced at One Billion Dao Crystals, if you pay Hundred Billion Dao Crystals, the matter can be settled!"

"Hundred Billion Dao Crystals, well, after all, it’s because of me that the butterfly wings disappeared... It’s just unexpected that buying my own wings would still cost money..."

Ning Fan, not wanting to make things difficult for these guards, paid the money according to the rules.

After all, the guards here were just working for the Black Market Star’s owner; their jobs weren’t easy.

Ning Fan’s nature was such that, unless there was deep resentment, he was never unreasonable.

Once the guards saw Ning Fan pay according to the rules, they breathed a sigh of relief, no longer made things difficult for him, and removed the fossil from the shelf, selling it to Ning Fan.

But the moment Ning Fan took the fossil, an Immortal Emperor’s overwhelming pressure transformed into a dark wind and descended from the sky.

"I, this old man, disagree with this transaction!"

In the shocked gazes of countless black market cultivators, the rarely appearing Black Wind Child appeared above Silent Inquiry Pavilion, locking his killing intent on Ning Fan!