Chapter 373.2: Being Kept as a Consort?

Ignoring Stone Warrior’s question, Ning Fan turned around and spoke to Lu Qing.

“Fellow Daoist Lu, I need a huge number of spiritual medicines that can nourish one’s primordial spirit. I wonder if I can get some from the Lost World Palace?”

“What!? Fellow Daoist Zhou’s primordial spirit is injured!?” Lu Qing and Stone Warrior were shocked. The both of them immediately thought that Ning Fan only managed to eliminate Revered Flame by suffering grievous injuries.

“Mm, there are some injuries. Can I get those medicines?” Ning Fan didn’t reveal anything about Luo You’s existence.

“By all means! Fellow Daoist is the tower master of the eastern, western and northern towers of the Lost World Palace in the first place. It’s certainly within your right to take those medicines.” Lu Qing said without qualms. Compared to roping Ning Fan in for the Lost World Palace, mere spiritual medicines were nothing.

“Oh? Fellow Daoist sure is straightforward. Aside from that, I also wish to enter the Lost World Tower for training… I wonder how much it will cost me to enter the seventh floor of the tower?”

“The seventh floor?” Lu Qing was startled for a second and explained right afterwards. “With Fellow Daoist’s Divine Transformation Realm cultivation base, you can at most enter the fifth floor. Even though we, the Lost World Palace, give preferential treatment to pill masters, the most we can do is help those Fifth Revolution Pill Masters who have yet to attain the Divine Transformation Realm to enter the fifth floor. As for the higher floors, there are stricter limitations on the cultivation base of the cultivators…”

“I got it.” Ning Fan didn’t insist on entering the seventh floor. This time, he wanted to enter the tower just to improve his magic power to the Divine Transformation Realm. With the experience he gained from attaining the Divine Transformation Realm twice in the past, the third time would now be a piece of cake for him. It would not take up too much time. The time within the fifth floor flowed at a rate of one-thirty-second of the time in the outside world while the time on the seventh floor was even four times slower than that.

However, be it the fifth floor or the seventh floor, he was going to spend around one and a half years within. The difference was not huge.

“By the way, before the mistress angrily ran away, she once gave me an order that if Fellow Daoist Zhou wants to use the Lost World Tower, Fellow Daoist does not need to pay at all as the total sum of the fee will all be shouldered by the mistress.”

“Oh? Bei Xiaoman is being that good to me and refuses to charge me any fees?” Ning Fan was surprised.

“Mm, the mistress also requested me to tell Fellow Daoist something… *Cough* The following words are the original words that were said by the mistress and they are not what I meant…”

Lu Qing smiled awkwardly and imitated Bei Xiaoman’s tone to speak to Ning Fan.

“Stinky Zhou Ming! Don’t worry! You don’t need to pay anything for cultivating inside the Lost World Tower. You can take it as being my kept man!”

“Haha!”

Ning Fan shook his head and laughed heartily. This Bei Xiaoman actually tried to keep him as her consort…

“Fellow Daoist, please don’t get angry over this matter. Those were the words the mistress uttered out of her anger…” Lu Qing was afraid that Ning Fan would feel that his pride was humiliated.

“Angry? Why would I be angry? I am Bei Xiaoman’s kept man? Great. Now, I can take anything I like from the Lost World Palace, right?”

Ning Fan curved his lips which formed into a mischievous grin. A fictitious name like that didn’t matter to him at all.

After all, it was great to be kept as Bei Xiaoman’s consort, wasn’t it? Now, he had all the excuses to empty everything in the storage of the Lost World Palace.

Improving my pill refining techniques will require a large amount of medicinal ingredients which will cost a huge sum of money. Mm, I shall burn the resources of the Lost World Palace first.

One day later, Ning Fan had almost emptied the spiritual herbs in the reserves of the four pill towers of the Lost World Palace.

On the second day, Ning Fan officially started his secluded meditation in the Lost World Tower.

In the boudoir located at the top of the southern tower, Bei Xiaoman was lazily chewing melon seeds while listening to the reports of her maidservants. She could not help but feel pleased with herself.

According to their information, Ning Fan actually didn’t deny his identity as her kept man.

“Hmph! Devil Lord Zhou, aren’t you very proud and arrogant?Didn’t you still end up being my kept man?” Bei Xiaoman let out a gentle snort yet her eyes were filled with glee. She only thought that Ning Fan had become her follower and she can now simply boss him around.

However, she did not seem to realize at all the true disaster of making Ning Fan her kept man.

“Reporting to Mistress… Young Master Zhou h-he… he has taken away almost all of the spiritual herbs with one thousand years of age and above from the four pill towers. Many feudal ranking pill masters who want to concoct pills are left with no medicinal ingredients at all…”

“W-What… What did you say…”

Bei Xiaoman froze and her jaws stopped chewing the melon seeds. She realized that she had just suffered a tremendous loss.

The spiritual ingredients stockpiled inside the four pill towers were bought at exorbitant prices. All of them are worth at least one billion immortal jade! He just took everything away like this?

Those ingredients were supposed to be supplied to hundreds of Third Revolution and dozens of Fourth Revolution Pill Masters for concocting pills!

“Zhou Ming! You’re a big bully! You’re a shameless person!”

Bei Xiaoman dashed out from her boudoir in the southern tower and ran to the silver tower located at the center of Penglai. She then pointed at the tower shining in silver under the bright sun and cursed.

If she had known that Ning Fan would take away all of her spiritual medicines, she certainly wouldn’t have said anything like keeping him as her kept man to satisfy her urge to humiliate him.

Currently, only a seven-letter word occupied her mind – revenge. She must get revenge for her loss!

Right! Didn’t he admit to be my kept man. Since that’s the case, I will wait until the day he walks out of the Lost World Tower and then give him a lesson. I will let him know who is the follower and who is the master!

“Speaking of which, what should I make him do for me? Should I ask him to give me a leg massage or a shoulder massage?”

She still had yet to realize that keeping a ‘kept man’ would require her to sacrifice her chastity.

…

At the fifth floor of Lost World Tower, Ning Fan stood in the midst of mountains and rivers. He was in no rush to build his own abode.

He raised his head and silently looked at the sky. He seemed to be absorbed in his own thoughts.

The Lost World Palace in the mortal world was at the silver grade. It only had seven floors which correspond to the seven cultivation realms.

The fifth floor was still not difficult to enter, but the sixth and seventh floors had strict restrictions on a cultivator’s cultivation base. Those who had yet to attain the Divine Transformation Realm were definitely forbidden to enter.

There were countless separated spaces on every floor for cultivators to practice. Currently, Ning Fan was inside the fifth floor.

Under the spatial barrier beneath his legs was the fourth floor.

If he goes beyond the spatial barrier above, he would then be able to enter the sixth floor.

For ordinary cultivators, no one would be able to enter the sixth floor without a Void Refinement Realm cultivation base. However, was Ning Fan an ordinary cultivator?

In a flash, Ning Fan disappeared from his original position and reappeared at the peak of the sky in the next second.

A trace of golden purple mist coiled around his palm. As he waved his palm at the spatial barrier, sizzling noises were heard as if something was being corroded by acid. The spatial barrier which was affected by the golden purple mist was slowly disintegrating.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a hole was created on the barrier. Ning Fan leapt and went into the sixth floor!

There were no green mountains and clear rivers on the sixth floor. Instead, it was a piece of a vast starry space!

The place where Ning Fan landed was a star with a radius of one hundred thousand li* (500m per li)!

A rush of void power pressed against his body, nearly squeezing the life out of him.

At the same time, a trace of void power emanated from his body which neutralized the external void power. In any case, Ning Fan was a cultivator who had gone through the Void Inquiry Stage. He, of course, would not be afraid of such intensity of void power.

As he was feeling the time on this floor which flowed sixty-four times slower than the time in the outside world, he seemed to have acquired some new insights.

“No wonder Lu Qing said that one must not enter the sixth floor and the seventh floor without an adequate cultivation base. These two floors are completely different from the fifth floor. I wonder whether or not I can withstand the void space of the seventh floor with my current void power!”

Ning Fan’s eyes shone with determination. He bent his knees and propelled himself upward. When he reached the peak of the void space of the sixth floor, he mustered his golden purple mist once again and broke a hole on the barrier, entering the seventh floor.

The time on the seventh floor flowed 128 times slower than in the outside world!

The void power of the space in this floor gave Ning Fan an immense sense of dread. Even experts at the Void Refinement Realm would be unable to withstand the intensity of void power in this void space!

Aside from that, Ning Fan could not even move a single inch using his teleportation technique while in this void space!

Without any hesitation, Ning Fan patted his storage pouch and took out two magical treasures.

The first one was the Eastern Ocean Bell. When he hung this item over his neck, the void power within this void space parted for him. With this item, he was protected from the void power that could threaten his life.

The second item was the Star Compass which Tablet Master Immortal Emperor of the Black Tortoise Star gave him. It was a supreme treasure which aided cultivators in travelling in the void space.

With Ning Fan’s current understanding, the void spaces would probably also have different grades. For void spaces with weaker void power, Void Refinement Realm experts would be able to leisurely travel within them whereas Divine Transformation Realm cultivators might not instantly perish if they enter these void spaces.

As for void spaces with more intense void power, any cultivators below the Void Fragmentation Realm would certainly die immediately after entering them.

Teleportation techniques were not applicable in these spaces and one would only be able to travel with the help of the Star Compass.

Ning Fan held the compass in his hand and the palm-sized compass instantly grew into a huge land that was ten thousand zhang* (3.33 m per zhang) wide.

He jumped onto it and performed a series of hand seals. Then, the land began to move across the void space at an incredible speed.

Moreover, its speed was even faster than ordinary Void Refinement Realm experts. It was at least equivalent to that of a Mid Void Refinement Realm expert!

“This Star Compass is indeed an excellent treasure…”

As Ning Fan travelled across the void space of the seventh floor, he discovered an enormous star with a radius of one million li* (500m per li) and decided to land on it.

Its surface was uneven and there were no signs of life. However, Ning Fan did not mind the environment at all. He exuded a sharp sword qi through his fingertip and created an abode beneath the ground he descended upon.

“I shall begin my practice here…”

Ning Fan then walked towards his abode. Just as he entered his newly-built practice ground, he had a strange feeling. He then lifted his head and looked above, his eyes filled with doubts. Then, the purple star in his left eye twinkled.

“Why do I feel that there’s an eighth floor in this Lost World Tower?”

“Is it an illusion…?”