Chapter 871: Chapter 871: The Barbarian Ox’s Roar Strikes Fear into the Messenger of the Heavenly Dao

The Reverse Spirit Technique is a divine skill that reverses spiritual energy flow and enhances perception. It is one of the highest secret techniques of the True Dragon Race. Across the entire True Dragon Race, there are only a few individuals qualified to cultivate this technique, and Ancestor Dulong is one of them.

Ning Fan has heard of the reputation of this technique. Besides enhancing perception, another ability of the Reverse Spirit Technique is to assist with soul searching.

If one masters the Reverse Spirit Technique, it can read memories without damaging the other’s spirit awareness. Ordinary Soul Searching Techniques cannot read artifact spirit memories, but the Reverse Spirit Technique can easily accomplish this.

Upon hearing the Candle Bow intends to teach him this technique, he immediately glances deeply at the Ancestral Bow Spirit.

If Ning Fan could master the Reverse Spirit Technique, he could once again strengthen his spirit sense perception, and the range of the Ice Rain Technique perception would once again increase. Ning Fan is very interested in this technique.

However, the timing of the Ancestral Bow Spirit offering to teach the Reverse Spirit Technique is somewhat abrupt… It seems to be intended to allow Ning Fan to soul search him without damaging spirit awareness, yet gives Ning Fan a feeling of insincerity…

“Are you sure you want to teach me this technique?” Ning Fan asked, thoughtfully.

The azure glow flickered in his eyes, seeming to see through all the thoughts of the Bow Spirit. The Ancestral Bow Spirit’s heart felt empty, and he smiled apologetically.

“Sure, of course! If you learn the Reverse Spirit Technique, you will naturally be able to soul search Little Bow, and find out if Little Bow is lying.”

After speaking, the Bow Spirit actually used heart spirit connection to teach Ning Fan the cultivation method of the Reverse Spirit Technique, while nervously calculating other matters…

The calculation is for the escape plan!

“On that day, this star of misfortune pointed at me, planting ten layers of sealing prohibition within my body. That prohibition connects to a great trend. With my divine skills, I simply cannot break it…”

“But my spiritual body is extremely special. If he uses the Reverse Spirit Technique to soul search me, I can absorb some reverse spiritual energy, weakening the seal within my body… As long as these ten layers of seal are weakened, I have a good chance of breaking the seal and escaping from the control of this star of misfortune.”

“Ah, if not for the sake of escaping the clutches of this star of misfortune, how could I teach him the Reverse Spirit Technique! All of this is merely a step in my escape plan.”

“As a dignified Candle Bow Spirit, to escape, I am indeed plotting against a junior, hehe, my life is truly lonely as snow.”

The Bow Spirit imagines his escape plan, unaware that his motive for teaching the Reverse Spirit Technique has aroused a bit of suspicion in Ning Fan…

However, since he has freely obtained a secret technique of the True Dragon Clan, there is naturally no reason to abandon learning it.

Without revealing the Bow Spirit’s thoughts, Ning Fan slightly organizes the information about the Reverse Spirit Technique he has obtained, and regardless, begins cultivating the Reverse Spirit Technique at the True Fantasy Riverbank.

The difficulty of cultivating the Reverse Spirit Technique is not high, divided into seven levels. The first level is easiest to cultivate, requiring only the possession of spirit wheels and the cultivation of demon spiritual qi within to succeed.

But starting from the second level, this technique increasingly demands higher cultivation of demon spiritual qi. With Ning Fan’s cultivation comparable to the Human Profound Initial Stage, he can only barely achieve the second level of the Reverse Spirit Technique.

The first level of the Reverse Spirit Technique can double spirit sense perception ability.

The second level of the Reverse Spirit Technique can quadruple spirit sense perception ability.

Only half a day has passed, and Ning Fan has cultivated the second level of the Reverse Spirit Technique. Upon completing the second level, Ning Fan clearly feels that while his spirit sense realm hasn’t elevated, his perception ability has surpassed past strengths several times over!

“If my demon spiritual qi reaches the Crossing Truth Realm, I can achieve the third level of the Reverse Spirit Technique, resulting in another surge in spirit sense perception…”

“The demon spiritual qi requires refining illusory power through spirit wheels for cultivation… The illusory power here is not weak, but alas, I cannot linger here long. Otherwise, if I were to retreat here for several decades, it might make the demon spiritual qi breakthrough to the Crossing Truth Realm…”

Ning Fan gazes at the waters of Eastflow River, pondering slightly. The Ancestral Bow Spirit in his hand then seems to casually remind,

“Hero? Are you not going to soul search Little Bow’s soul? See if Little Bow is lying?”

“You are very eager for me to soul search you? Normally, people resist having their soul searched by others, yet you are quite eager…” Ning Fan asked expressionlessly.

“Uh…” The Bow Spirit’s words stumbled, feeling somewhat guilty.

“Fine, you painstakingly taught me the Reverse Spirit Technique, so I shall soul search you as you wish!”

Ning Fan reverse flows spiritual energy, points his finger at the Ancestral Bow, which transforms into the phantom image of a hunched old man, covered in black-red sealing prohibitions.

Then, he grabs with one hand, directly pressing onto the old man’s Tian Ling, and performs the Reverse Spirit Soul Search Technique.

Even though it was a soul search, the hunched old man felt an incredibly comfortable sensation, all over, three hundred million pores fully relaxed, enjoying the soul search process, his face revealing a sordid, delighted smile.

“Ah, the feeling of being soul searched by the Reverse Spirit Technique is truly delightful!”

“The seal within my body has weakened a bit; while this star of misfortune searches my memories, I must swiftly break the seal!”

The ten layers of seal within his body have been reduced, the Bow Spirit naturally won’t hold back and starts secretly breaking the seals within.

Unfortunately, these little tricks did not escape Ning Fan’s eyes.

Ning Fan didn’t reveal anything, allowing the Bow Spirit to arrogantly break the seal while he carefully reads the Bow Spirit’s memories.

This Bow Spirit was once the spirit of a demon bow called ’Candle Bow.’ The Candle Bow was quite renowned, before the Four Heavens were established, it was the magical treasure of ’Ancestor Dragon Zhuli.’

Ancestor Dragon Zhuli founded the True Dragon Race, as the common ancestor of later Dragon Ancestors, but before the formation of the Four Heavens, he perished in a battle at a mysterious place called ’Sky Desolate Ancient Realm…’

The Candle Bow was also destroyed with Ancestor Dragon Zhuli at the battle in the Sky Desolate Ancient Realm, only a trace of the Bow Spirit managed to survive, lingering until now.

What Ning Fan captured was this trace of the Candle Bow Spirit, still surviving damage, with incomplete memories, unable to extract much ancient knowledge from its memories.

Moreover, some parts of the Bow Spirit’s memories are deliberately sealed… those are self-imposed seals by the Bow Spirit, sealing memories Ning Fan should not obtain.

Those memories include its escape plan and other matters…

Ning Fan attempted to break the memory seal within the Candle Bow but failed. His level of mastery in the Reverse Spirit Technique is still too low…

Despite the failure to break the seal, Ning Fan still glimpsed some memory fragments from the sealed memories of the Candle Bow.

Among those memory fragments, there was the Bow Spirit’s attempt to break the seal and escape, as well as other memories.

One memory fragment is the scene where Ancestor Dragon Zhuli solemnly instructs the Candle Bow Spirit at the moment of his death…

“Remember, you must escape back to the True Dragon Race, deliver the key to the next Dragon Lord…”

“The key has been sealed by me, under the Saint, no one can forcibly break the seal. You are my Bow Spirit, thus having the opportunity to break the seal. If future Dragon Lords wish to unlock the key but lack sufficient cultivation, you must offer your remnant spirit to help future Dragon Lords unlock the key… remember, remember…”

Ning Fan’s gaze slightly shifts; he didn’t expect to obtain such a memory fragment from the Bow Spirit’s sealed memories.

The key, another key…

The Ancestral Demon of the East hid a key within the Heaven Suppressing Bell, Ancestor Chaos Grand Emperor hid a key within the Yin Yang Locket, Ancestor Dragon Zhuli left a key for future Dragon Lords…

The key, what could it possibly be!

If I can unravel the memory seal of the Bow Spirit, I might uncover the truth about the key… But with Ning Fan’s Reverse Spirit Technique cultivation, hoping to break the seal with his own power is but a distant dream…

And what if I threaten the Bow Spirit to unlock the seal herself…

“Enough, let us put aside the matter of the key for now, and look at the scene from the Bow Spirit’s memory, where Ancestor Dragon Zhuli is creating a bridge and crossing truth…”

Ning Fan had a change in thought and began to read another part of the memory. This part of the memory contains the image of a young Ancestor Dragon Zhuli crossing truth.

The Dao cultivated by Ancestor Dragon Zhuli, is a path from beyond the heavens; this path does not belong to the reincarnation established by the Immortal Emperor, and among the eighteen thousand bridges, there is no Dao corresponding to it.

Ancestor Dragon Zhuli tried to create a True Bridge on the True Illusions River, but failed in the endeavor…

With no choice left, Ancestor Dragon Zhuli switched to cultivate other Daos and only then succeeded in crossing truth…

In this world, outside of the Immortal Emperor who created the True Illusions River, no one has ever been able to build a True Bridge on it, not even an Ancestor Dragon.

The Candle Bow Spirit was not lying. It doesn’t know how to create a True Bridge, nor has it heard of any cultivator outside the Immortal Emperor who has ever built a True Bridge.

All it knows is that Ancestor Dragon Zhuli’s bridge-building plan in those days was a failed bridge-building plan.

“Besides the Immortal Emperor, no one has ever been able to build a True Bridge on the True Illusions River… Am I not an exception either…”

Ning Fan furrowed his brow, staring silently at the continuously flowing waters of the True Illusions River.

No one can create another True Bridge on the True River; they can only cross the True River on the True Bridge left by the Immortal Emperor.

There’s no Bridge of Conviction on the True Illusions River, so how should a Dao Upholder like Ning Fan cross the truth?

Should I, like Ancestor Dragon Zhuli, abandon my former Dao and start cultivating other great Daos anew?

Ning Fan closed his eyes, sighed slightly; he cannot let go of the Path of Perseverance because this path is borne out of all the obsessions in his heart.

This path, ingrained with his warmest memories and most sincere feelings, he cannot bear to forsake it.

If he gives up the Path of Perseverance for another Dao to cross truth, he might become a Crossing Truth Realm cultivator, but he would no longer be Ning Fan.

Unable to relinquish the Path of Perseverance means the only option is to give up on crossing truth then? Will his life be stuck at the Crossing Truth Realm, becoming a Ghost Profound Cultivator?

To remain a Ghost Profound seems not too frightening. Even without mana-crossing truth, Ning Fan can still cultivate the Ancient Devil Dao to refine essence and harness the powers of ancient demons; perhaps his Daoist path won’t close because of this…

But if he cannot cross truth, Ning Fan won’t be able to complete the fourth transformation of the Battle Art nor fulfill the Luo family’s entrusted mission. Neither can he cultivate to the Late Stage Enlightenment and achieve the twenty-seven Yin-Yang of Chaos Ring Art, which equates to abandoning the inheritance given by the Ancient Chaos…

Giving up crossing truth would let down the Luo family’s entrustment and be unworthy of the Ancient Chaos…

The Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor was willing to shatter his illusionary body to condense a Heavenly Grade Fierce Origin Crystal, to help Ning Fan cultivate Rain Yin Yang, and to train the Chaos Ring Art—can Ning Fan truly forsake the Chaos Ring Art?

Giving up crossing truth seems to preserve the Path of Perseverance but simultaneously, it betrays the inner resolve…

In this way, Ning Fan’s Dao Heart would still not rest easy, while preserving the Path of Perseverance, it would indeed leave a crack…

The mountain stands tall, unwavering, hence it’s a mountain; perseverance remains unchanged, hence it’s perseverance.

Forsaking the Path of Perseverance equals its collapse; giving up crossing truth damages the Dao Heart; forcefully crossing the True River results in failure, and carelessness may even lead to danger to one’s life…

This is the quandary that Sparrow God Kidd referred to—the dilemma between the Path of Perseverance and crossing truth…

Ning Fan sighed softly, if his path were not one of perseverance, without attachment in the heart, he could readily discard it and cultivate another, without harming the Dao Heart.

Unfortunately, while Ancestor Dragon Zhuli could nonchalantly switch to cultivate other great Daos, Ning Fan cannot… because he is Ning Fan, because he is a Dao Upholder…

Perhaps, a Dao Upholder would become the least likely to cross truth among all cultivators…

Ning Fan gazed at the mighty river, and a sudden enlightenment dawned upon him.

Crossing truth is ostensibly about crossing the True Illusions River, not unlike advising cultivators to abandon their obsessions and tread on the True Bridge laid by the Immortal Emperor…

Shedding void is still about shedding, still about void, relinquishing inner obsessions, clearing and purifying the Dao Heart is the prerequisite for cultivation success…

Mumbling, because only by shattering obsessions can one cultivate Daoist Thought…

The True Immortal Three Realms—crossing truth, shedding void, mumbling—ultimately all require letting go of obsessions to achieve the so-called True Dao?

If the power of True Dao is obtained after releasing inner obsessions, then is it still true?

“What is truth?”

“Are the one hundred and eighty thousand True Bridges on the True Illusions River the real truth? My heart’s persistence is not real?”

“Is there a real truth in this world…”

Ning Fan once again questioned aloud, and this question again caused the waters of the True Illusions River to reverse its flow!

The reversing waters contained a resolute determination, seeking to trace back to its original source, to discover why it exists!

Ning Fan’s heart, as if inspired by the reversing waters, yearned to learn from the reversing river and cultivate his own truth!

“These one hundred and eighty thousand True Bridges are the truth established by the Immortal Emperor, not my truth!”

“My truth is solely perseverance; if I abandon perseverance, even when I cross truth, I surely cannot cultivate the genuine True Dao!”

“This True Illusions River, I will traverse; I shall not walk any man-laid True Bridge, I will build a True Bridge with my heart’s perseverance!”

“Whether there is real truth in this world matters not to me, my heart holds truth, and that is enough!”

Ning Fan took a deep breath, his gaze unwavering.

Faced with such a dilemma, anyone else’s Dao Heart would waver and suffer.

Other Dao Upholders unable to cross truth might choose to forsake the Path of Perseverance…but Ning Fan will not!

Within Ning Fan’s nature, there has always been a streak of stubbornness.

Knowing it is impossible, yet still choosing to do it; though there be millions in my way, I shall press on!

He would not give up on Crossing Truth, nor give up on the Path of Perseverance… he was determined to build a Bridge of Conviction on the Zhenhuan River!

Except for the Immortal Emperor, no one had ever been able to build a True Bridge on the Zhenhuan River. It was likely that Ning Fan would fail if he tried to build a bridge, but he insisted on giving it a try!

To give up easily, how could he be willing!

“In the memories of the Candle Bow, when Ancestor Dragon Zhuli created the True Bridge, he divided the entire bridge-building plan into three steps. The first step was to sacrifice billions of demon race residual souls to the True River, using their souls to gather illusionary mist, and using the mist to form a stone bridge. If the stone bridge formed, it was considered the completion of the first step, but this stone bridge was still not the True Bridge. To create the True Bridge, the second step was needed: to strip away the illusions from the stone bridge, leaving only the true Dao. When all illusions fade, the stone bridge will become a True Bridge; the third step is to walk on the True Bridge to cross the True River…”

“Ancestor Dragon Zhuli failed to create the True Bridge during the second step. Though he successfully made a stone bridge, it was not yet a True Bridge and could not cross the Truth. He attempted to complete the second step to transform the stone bridge into a True Bridge but could not completely strip away the illusions and had to abandon the attempt…”

“Though Ancestor Dragon Zhuli failed to build the bridge, his three-step bridge-building process can be a slight reference for me.”

“The first step is to create a stone bridge on the Zhenhuan River. To make the stone bridge, one needs to sacrifice billions of residual souls…”

Ning Fan glanced at the Candle Bow in his hand and smiled slightly. The Soul Search was complete, and the bow spirit had exited the human body, reverting to its bow form.

From within this Candle Bow Spirit, he sensed the power of ten billion true dragon dragon soul residuals, which had been condensed into a crystal by the bow spirit…

These souls were originally sacrificial offerings given by the True Dragon Clan to cultivate the bow spirit’s spirit body but now conveniently could be used to build a bridge!

At this moment, the bow spirit was desperately trying to break the seals within its body, dreaming of escaping once the seals were broken.

While Ning Fan was conducting the Soul Search, the seals within the bow spirit weakened, and it managed to break through five layers of seals

While Ning Fan was pondering, the bow spirit continued to break through another two layers of seals, leaving only three layers remaining!

“Heh heh! Foolish junior! You would never have thought in your wildest dreams that I taught you the Reverse Spirit Technique only as a means to escape!”

“With only three seals left, in just another half an hour, I’ll be able to fully break free and escape this place! Once the seals are broken, with the strength of this old man’s spirit body, even if this star of misfortune knows the Ancestral Demon of the East’s Heaven Sealing Art, he won’t be able to hold me again!”

“Ah, it’s been fifty years since this star of misfortune sealed me, and I really do miss the Ancestral Spirit Pool! Back in the day, I lived in the Ancestral Dragon Pool, and every day there would be True Dragon Cultivators capturing female cultivators from the Human race and throwing them into the Ancestral Spirit Pool for my amusement… Heh heh, fifty years without laying a finger on a woman. This time when I return to the Northern Territory, I must have Dulongzi send some beauties so I can thoroughly enjoy myself!”

“There’s probably no other artifact spirit in the world that can live as carefree as this old man, basking in beauty’s lap, wielding the power to shoot at all… Loneliness like snow, truly, my life is as lonely as snow!”

“Only three seals left, heh heh! Beauties, this old man is coming back soon!”

The bow spirit was lewdly laughing when it suddenly froze, almost spitting out old blood.

Seeing that only three seals were left, Ning Fan casually waved his hand and reinforced the seal.

The reinforced seal now had a whole one hundred and eight layers! Inhumanly sturdy!

Previously, there were only ten layers of seals which the bow spirit couldn’t break, and it could only weaken the seals slightly using the Reverse Spirit Technique with a minimal chance of breaking free…

But now, with a hundred and eight layers of seal, even if Ning Fan continued using the Reverse Spirit Technique on the bow spirit to weaken the seal, the bow spirit could no longer seize the opportunity to break free…

“One hundred and eight layers of seals… No!!!”

“Star of misfortune! You despicable and shameless star of misfortune, you’ve gone too far! The old man was nearly free, and you reinforced the seal! Shameless, shameless!”

The bow spirit’s cries of grief and indignation echoed within Ning Fan’s heart for a long time.

Of course, Ning Fan had no intention of paying attention to the bow spirit’s grief. His gaze turned cold, and with a backward swipe of his hand, he directly activated a Divine Skill, extracting a blood-red crystal of remnant soul power from the bow spirit’s spirit body.

This was the soul power crystal formed by ten billion dragon souls, intended to nourish the spirit body, but now this soul power crystal belonged to Ning Fan.

Seeing that Ning Fan not only reinforced the sealing restriction but also took away the soul power crystal used to nourish his spirit body, the bow spirit grew even more indignant, cursing loudly in Ning Fan’s heart spirit.

“If you continue cursing, Ning Fan will directly use you to forge a treasure, extinguish you as a bow spirit! I think I can make a pretty good bow!”

Ning Fan’s words sank, a killing intent flickered in his eyes.

Within the bow spirit’s memories, there was information about the key that might have some use to Ning Fan, so he was spared for now.

But if this bow spirit truly didn’t know his place, Ning Fan would not hesitate to discard the intelligence and directly kill this bow spirit.

Feeling Ning Fan’s unabashed killing intent, the bow spirit shuddered involuntarily, though indignant, it dared not hurl curses anymore.

“Seal!”

Seeing that the bow spirit was sensible, Ning Fan no longer wasted words with it, and temporarily sealed it, tossing it back into the Xuan Yin Treasure. He decided to first build the bridge to cross the truth, then pry the key’s information out of the bow spirit’s mouth.

Holding the crystal of remnant souls, Ning Fan looked decisively at the surging river in front of him.

The waters of the Zhenhuan River, previously reversing, had returned to normal and were flowing eastward again.

Ning Fan, seated cross-legged on the riverbank of the Zhenhuan River, waved his hand to cast the crystal of remnant souls, his fingers forming complex seals as he chanted quietly.

Blood-red dragon souls emerged, affected by the ritual, drifting aimlessly out of the crystal, linking head to tail above the Zhenhuan River to form a shimmering blood-red soul bridge.

With a flicker of his palm, the chaotic mist above the illusory soul bridge immediately flowed into it. The illusory soul bridge began to solidify into a blood-red stone bridge, and as time passed, the blood-red gradually transformed into a blue hue.

Half a day later, a blue stone bridge emanating faint dragon roars spanned the Zhenhuan River!

At the moment the blue stone bridge was completed, the River Demon lurking at the bottom of the Zhenhuan River immediately displayed a solemn expression.

“This one actually intends to form a True Bridge on the Zhenuan River, and has actually succeeded in forming a stone bridge… is he intending to break the laws of Crossing Truth of the world…”

No one has ever succeeded in building a True Bridge on the True River, not due to lack of Divine Skills, but because the laws of this world do not permit it…

This Heavenly Dao was established by the Immortal Emperor, these laws were personally set by the Immortal Emperor.

No one can defy the will of the Immortal Emperor to create a True Bridge on the True River, and the River Demon does not believe Ning Fan has the ability to defy the will of the Immortal Emperor.

“Since this demon sat guard by the Zhenhuan River, I’ve seen a total of forty-seven thousand nine hundred and forty-one Masters attempt to build a bridge on the True River, all of which ended in failure…”

“No one can contend against the Immortal Emperor’s will… no one can build a True Bridge on the Zhenhuan River…”

“This one can enter the inner circle of Heavenly Dao with his physical defense, and can make the waters of the Zhenhuan River reverse twice, enough to prove his incredible worth. In the Dreamland Realm, only forty-seven have been able to accomplish such feats, this one is certainly the forty-eighth!”

“But, unfortunately, his Dao is perseverance, and on the True River, there is no such Path of Perseverance… He shall ultimately fail in his bridge-building attempts… unless he abandons his chosen path of perseverance, he will never cross the truth in his lifetime…”

“Crossing Truth, Crossing Truth, that one word ’crossing’ inherently includes the meaning of abandoning attachments. Only by letting go of the southern shore, can one reach the northern shore, for there to be gain, there must be loss; to gain, there must be sacrifice, and that is the Dao…”

The River Demon sighed softly, shook his head, and said no more.

Although Ning Fan constructed a stone bridge with a billion dragon souls, the river demon did not believe that Ning Fan could strip the Dao illusion from the stone bridge to create a true bridge.

The stone bridge was not sturdy. Before it became a true bridge, it would surely collapse if someone stepped on it.

A flash of azure glimmered in Ning Fan’s eyes as he gazed at the stone bridge in contemplative silence.

He had completed the first step of building the bridge. The second step was to strip away the Dao illusion from the stone bridge.

He had already opened the First Heavenly Gate, possessing the vision of the Unity of Heaven and Man, which made it easy to see through the Dao illusion within the bridge.

But attempting to strip away these Dao illusions was as difficult as ascending to the heavens. As soon as he waved his hand to strip off the first thread of Dao illusion power, he was immediately suppressed by the entire Heavenly Dao!

The Heavenly Dao did not allow any Master outside the Immortal Emperor level to strip away Dao illusions and create a true bridge.

It was as if an awareness from the heavens descended upon Ning Fan, and in an instant, it shook him to the point of vomiting blood and retreating, forcing him to abandon the stripping of the Dao illusions.

At the heart of the Zhenhuan River, a purple-gold vortex suddenly appeared. From within the vortex, a flash of extreme light shot forth a Heavenly Dao Purple Lock, as swift as lightning, binding itself around Ning Fan.

The speed of the purple lock was so quick that Ning Fan had no time to evade.

Once bound by the purple lock, Ning Fan immediately lost his consciousness and sank deep into a series of illusions.

The binding force of the purple lock stemmed from the vortex within the river.

Within Ning Fan’s Heart Spirit World, scenes of illusions appeared, perhaps due to his Crossing Truth in the wilderness. The scenes were of the ancient wilderness.

Borrowing the power of these illusions, it seemed Ning Fan returned to the ancient times of the Barbarian Wilderness Ancient Domain!

Within these illusions, Ning Fan was no longer human but a Barbarian Ox tethered at the foot of Li Mountain by a purple lock.

He was not the only Barbarian Ox tethered here; millions of Barbarian Oxen were bound at this place!

Every Barbarian Ox was shackled with heavy purple-gold chains, lingering at the foot of Li Mountain, hardly able to move.

“Our clan of Barbarian Oxen offended the messenger of the Heavenly Dao and was exiled to the slopes of Li Mountain.”

“Each inch of the purple lock matches an inch of the mountain. The weight of this purple lock is comparable to the entire Li Mountain! Bearing this purple lock, we find it impossible to move an inch and gain freedom in this life!”

“Legend has it that when the Yellow River runs clear, fetching one liter of clear water could dissolve the purple lock. If a Barbarian Ox could walk ten thousand miles to the Yellow River, it would hope to break the seal of the purple lock. Alas, the lock is too heavy for any Barbarian Ox to carry it to the Yellow River…”

Countless Barbarian Oxen lamented here, powerless to defy fate.

Only the Barbarian Ox turned Ning Fan remained steadfast in gaze.

“Who would have thought that stripping the Dao illusion would invoke the attack of the Heavenly Dao Purple Lock, even binding my mind, resulting in such an illusion…”

“If I reach the Yellow River and fetch one liter of clear water, can this dissolve the purple lock that binds my heart…”

In a daze, Ning Fan heard Zhao Die’er’s song of the wild echoing in his ears.

’Little Barbarian Ox, do not look back, strive for freedom against the heavens. Do not give up until you see the Yellow River, but alas, the Yellow River’s waters are not clear…’

Perhaps, even walking ten thousand miles to the shores of the Yellow River, one would not be able to fetch one liter of clear water from its turbid waters, nor dissolve the purple lock and attain freedom…

However, if one does not even attempt, the hope of attaining freedom becomes even fainter…

“Where is the Yellow River?” Ning Fan asked the other Barbarian Oxen.

Hearing Ning Fan’s audacious attempt to climb to the Yellow River bound by the purple lock, many Barbarian Oxen smirked, doubting Ning Fan’s strength to make such a journey.

Only an old Barbarian Ox informed Ning Fan of the whereabouts of the Yellow River, yet it too doubted Ning Fan’s ability to reach it.

The purple lock around Ning Fan was too heavy. Even Crossing Truth Intermediate Stage Masters found it hard to move under its crushing weight.

However, Ning Fan’s strength had already surpassed the Crossing Truth Intermediate Stage. Though moving his feet was arduous, he nevertheless managed to take his first step!

Though his steps were slow, they steadily moved northward towards the Yellow River!

“Why, why can this Barbarian Ox withstand the weight of the purple lock!”

“Is he heading for the Yellow River! If he can fetch one liter of clear water from the Yellow River, he can dissolve the purple lock and gain freedom!”

“He actually has a chance to gain freedom! Why can he do it when we cannot!”

Apart from Ning Fan, none of the Barbarian Oxen could bear the weight of the purple lock.

At the summit of Li Mountain, an elderly cultivator at the Initial Stage of Crossing Truth suddenly opened his blood-red eyes in surprise.

“A Barbarian Ox capable of withstanding the power of the Calamity Lock…”

That surprise soon morphed into murderous intent.

The old man grinned, revealing stark white teeth. He was the messenger of the Heavenly Dao, and once heavenly punishment was bestowed, he did not permit anyone to escape it!

“Does this ox intend to reach the Yellow River? Unfortunately, this old man will not give it a chance!”

The old man abruptly stood, with a wave of his hand, conjuring a black-red thunderous force into existence at his palm.

“Heaven’s tribulation, descend!”

The black-red thunder was the true Heaven’s Tribulation, unlike the Heaven’s Tribulation of the later cultivation world!

The old man waved his hand to cast the thunder, and the sky over Li Mountain instantly filled with black-red calamity clouds. The rumbling tribulation thunder directed entirely towards Ning Fan.

The calamity thunder was formidable enough to easily annihilate initial-stage Crossing Truth Masters!

The calamity thunder hadn’t even struck Ning Fan when the furious bellow of his Barbarian Ox form shattered it to pieces, extinguishing the lightning!

Ning Fan, transformed into a Barbarian Ox, glared fiercely at the heavens’ calamity thunder, his internal calamity blood stirred, projecting a threat far exceeding the tribulation thunder.

With a mere gaze, the calamity clouds throughout the sky instantly shattered. Ning Fan turned back to gaze towards Li Mountain, and with a single glare, forced the Initial Stage Crossing Truth calamity messenger elder to cough up blood and retreat in terror!

“Impossible! How can the lowly Barbarian Clan birth a Taicang Calamity Spirit!”

“I must not provoke it! The strength of this Barbarian Ox surpasses that of this old man. If I provoke it again, this old man will surely die!” (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you’re welcome to visit qidian.com to cast recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep