Chapter 925: Moon Lord

"What?" Jiang Fan's expression changed. "An Ancient Sage of the continent?"

He quickly grabbed the tattered painting and unrolled it. He was very curious to see what the Ancient Sage looked like.

But with one glance, Jiang Fan was greatly disappointed. The head portion of the painting was strangely blurry, as if it had been soaked in water after being painted. He could only vaguely make out where the facial features were, but couldn't see them clearly at all. Even the contours of the cheeks were indistinct.

"Even a ghost couldn't see this clearly," Jiang Fan mumbled.

The words had barely left his lips when the painting's spirit was startled. "Hey! Are you looking for death?" it exclaimed. "How dare you criticize the portrait of an Ancient Sage? Don't drag me into this."

Jiang Fan's heart tightened. He immediately remembered a time when he had merely grumbled about the Great Sun Demon Emperor, and a few days later, he was almost struck by lightning while walking. He quickly clasped his hands together and prayed to the heavens. "Children's words are innocent, may all be auspicious."

Detecting no abnormality, he looked back at the painting. Although the face was blurry, the other parts were still intact. It depicted a woman wearing a light cyan long dress, with an ethereal aura. Her figure was tall and slender, conveying a delicate, frail sensation, like a willow by the riverbank gently swaying in the breeze. She stood upright, her hands clasped lightly in front of her lower abdomen, exuding a dignified and serene demeanor. This image was impossible to reconcile with the "ruthlessness" the painting's spirit had mentioned.

"I don't know why, but I have a strong feeling of déjà vu," Jiang Fan mused, examining the scroll and stroking his chin. "It's like I've seen someone like this before, but I can't remember who it is."

The painting's spirit pursed its lips. "What are you thinking? How could you have seen an Ancient Sage? The Nine Great Ancient Sages of your Central Lands are all like heavenly secrets; they never reveal themselves before people."

Jiang Fan was puzzled. "Then where does this feeling of déjà vu come from?"

The painting's spirit replied, "Ancient Sages embody the myriad forms of life, so it's normal for you to feel like you've seen them before."

"Is that so?" Jiang Fan nodded.

As he continued to examine it, he suddenly noticed something, holding the scroll up to peer at it closely. To his surprise, in the very corner of the painting, there was a colorful rooster pecking at insects on the ground. Jiang Fan touched the chicken feather on his chest, his expression somewhat blank.

He thought of the grave of the Great Earth Phoenix Sage beneath the Spirit Beast Sect's mountain, where a wooden sign casually read, "Tomb of Little Phoenix." Could it be? Was the rooster in the painting the Great Earth Phoenix Sage from back then? And the one who erected its tombstone... an Ancient Sage? Could the reason the Ancient Sage remembered him, and even used lightning to strike him, be related to him digging up the Great Earth Phoenix Sage's tomb? Heaven have mercy! The tomb was dug by the Divine Movement Sect! He had merely salvaged something useful, finding a single feather of the Great Earth Phoenix Sage from a pile of dirt.

As the thought arose, the chicken feather on Jiang Fan's chest suddenly began to grow hot. Fortunately, his cultivation was now far stronger than before, so it no longer burned him.

"Alright, alright, I didn't say you were useless," Jiang Fan muttered, exasperated. However, judging by the feather's reaction, the rooster in the painting was undoubtedly it. "An Ancient Sage who raises chickens?"

"Hmm, from now on, I'll pay special attention to any woman who raises chickens." After putting away the scroll, Jiang Fan casually tossed the painting back, saying, "The painting looks ancient at a glance, but it's not worth much. I suggest you keep it for yourself."

Wu Manyue rolled her eyes and reluctantly pulled out a nail-sized fragment of a spirit stone from her embrace. It contained abundant spiritual energy. It was a crystal, but not an ordinary one.

"A fragment of a supreme-grade crystal, for one Dragon Heart Blood Lotus seed."

"A supreme-grade crystal?" Jiang Fan's face showed his surprise. "This is my first time seeing one."

Wu Manyue scoffed, "Of course it is! Supreme-grade crystals are highly sought-after in the Great Cang Province, almost impossible to find on the market." She continued, "I heard that Vice Pavilion Master Gu of the Riverside Pavilion paid a huge price just to buy a supreme-grade crystal from our Heavenly Mystery Pavilion Master. Even though this is just a small fragment, people would definitely scramble for it."

Were supreme-grade crystals really that popular? He suddenly remembered that he had hundreds of thousands of crystal tokens in his possession, which he hadn't yet exchanged for crystals at the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion. Could these low-grade crystals be refined into supreme-grade crystals using the Mountain River Cauldron?

"Hey, do you want it or not?" Wu Manyue prompted. "If you don't, I'll sell it to someone else."

"I'll take it." Jiang Fan handed her the Dragon Heart Blood Lotus seed. Wu Manyue giggled, immediately tucking the seed deep into her robes.

After seeing this and confirming that the remaining items were all junk, Jiang Fan stood up to leave. Before departing, he suddenly remembered something. "By the way, are you staying or leaving?"

Looking at Wu Manyue, who was selling off her inventory, Jiang Fan could roughly guess her intentions. Since the underground world could no longer be opened, the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion had lost its value to her. Given her mercenary nature, she probably wouldn't stay with the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion to start over in the Great Cang Province.

"What, are you reluctant to see me go?" Wu Manyue teased, throwing him a charming glance and chuckling. "Then beg me. Beg me, and I'll stay."

Jiang Fan rolled his eyes in return and turned to leave. Watching his receding back, the smile on Wu Manyue's face gradually faded, and her bright eyes dimmed. She sighed softly in disappointment: "There's no feast in the world that doesn't end. Farewell, if fate allows. Jiang Fan."

Not long after, her stall remained, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Jiang Fan had already arrived at the cultivation hall. He chose a cave dwelling, took out the thousand-year clam meat, and began to strive for the ninth level of Core Formation perfection.

Unbeknownst to him, Chen Siling, dressed in a long ink-wash painting style gown, had quietly followed, arriving before his cultivation chamber. Her appearance was still as exquisite and beautiful as ever. However, her demeanor was subtly different from her usual fresh and lively self, now showing a hint of lofty noble indifference. What was even more different was that the pupils in her snowy eyes were no longer ordinary brown, but a faint moonlight color, like two tiny moons. In her mind, Chen Siling's anxious voice echoed.

"Moon Venerable, what are you doing? You are not allowed to harm him!"

It turned out that Moon Venerable had taken over her will. As Chen Siling's cultivation continuously improved, Moon Venerable also became nourished, and her soul gradually strengthened. She was finally able to suppress Chen Siling's soul and temporarily control the body.

"Don't worry," Moon Venerable replied. "He has always taken good care of you, so why would I harm him? It's just that he took my Moon Realm. I need to get it back. Even though it's broken, it can still be used, albeit barely."

Chen Siling finally breathed a sigh of relief, yet felt great sorrow. Ever since the appearance of the Heaven-Linking Black Pillar, Moon Venerable had been urging her to leave quickly and go to her former Moon Palace. She had never brought herself to leave, nor dared to tell Xu Youran or Jiang Fan. Until today, Moon Venerable had suddenly suppressed her and taken control of her body.

"Forget it, just leave the Moon Realm for him to use," Chen Siling conceded. "Besides, if you ask me, you might not even be able to get it back from him. Be careful he doesn't see through you and strip you from my body. By then, it'll be too late for regrets. My husband is very powerful!"

Moon Venerable smiled faintly, drawing a finger across her eyes. The distinct moon-like pupils vanished, reverting to normal. "Then you can give up on that idea," Moon Venerable said. "Unless he reaches the Nascent Soul stage, he won't be able to detect my abnormality!"