Grasping Evil

A thunderous voice dispersed the echoes. The battle between Ning Fan and Yun Kuang was unavoidable!

Immemorial Divine Vein, Vein of Lightning… The Lightning Star of Fiendgod[1]!

In the past, Song Yi misinterpreted Ning Fan's identity because of this star. Today, there were around seven Nascent Soul Realm cultivators from Rain Palace who made the same mistake as Song Yi.

The other Nascent Soul Realm cultivators were slightly astonished when they recognized that Ning Fan possessed Immemorial Divine Veins. However, those who bore the same thoughts as Song Yi weren't just surprised but they were also dumbstruck!

Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou!

It was rare but not unusual to have Immemorial Divine Veins or Immemorial Devil Veins in the eight hundred cultivation countries of Rain World. In Rain World, a cultivator's potential is judged by the attribute of their Immortal Veins. Only Heavenly Spirit or Dual Spirit[2] cultivators were considered genius. As for those who possess Immemorial Divine or Devil Veins, they have even higher potential than those Heavenly Spirit or Dual Spirit cultivators.

Rain Palace itself had the inheritance of Divine Veins of Rain… However, the number of cultivators who could activate the Divine Veins within them were only around ten people, ranging from Vein Opening Realm to Void Fragmentation Realm. Yun Kuang, Song Yi and even Revered Snow were those who experience failure in activating their own Divine Veins.

Furthermore, the only cultivator who possessed the Divine Vein of Lightning in the entire history of Rain World for the past one hundred thousand years was Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou. Coincidentally, the surname of Ning Fan's pseudonym was Zhou…

(The significance of his name is shown in the following illustration.

Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou & Zhou Ming)

Could it be that this Zhou Ming is the descendant of Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou?

Some of the cultivators gasped in astonishment and even Revered Snow looked stunned when they thought of that possibility.

It would be quite troublesome if the descendant of Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou truly existed.

Revered Snow took a few glances on Ning Fan again and was certain that Ning Fan was the disciple of the Old Devil. He concluded that Ning Fan should have no relation with Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou. Besides, although Ning Fan condensed the Lightning Star, the power of lightning in his body was very weak. He could only borrow the power of the Lightning Star to perform the lightning strike ability. There was still a huge difference between him and the true master of the Divine Veins of Lightning.

Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou was said to be able to transform into lightning and thunder using the Divine Veins' power while he was still at Nascent Soul Realm. The cultivators of the same realm didn't have magic techniques or magical treasures that could inflict damage on his real body. Even Early Divine Transformation Realm had no way to confront him. Only cultivators who had far higher cultivation realm than him, owned magical treasures that restrained the power of lightning or fiendgods who had Immemorial Divine Weapons would be able to hurt him.

"Turning one's body into lightning and thunder making thousands of enemies fail to strike him down", "Divine Thunder that struck down devils and overpowered three emperors". Those were the secret news that spread across the high-ranked officers of Rain Palace.

After ensuring that Ning Fan didn't have the genuine Veins of Lightning, Revered Snow let out a sigh of relief. He sat up straight on the seat made of clouds. With a single touch on the Cloud Palace, it quivered heavily and dissipated into floating clouds. But the mists condensed again in a flash, transforming into a fighting ring that stretched for a thousand zhang.

Ning Fan and Yun Kuang stood at the middle of the ring. A higher platform appeared outside the fighting ring. It was where Revered Snow and the other cultivators watched the fight.

"A single move to decide the winner. The title of Seventh Commander will belong to the one who triumphs in this fight. No matter who wins or loses, they shouldn't hold any grudges!"

The moment Revered Snow spoke the last word, Yun Kuang wielded his sword without any hesitation!

He was confident that he wouldn't lose the fight with just one move.

Deep inside him, he was slightly afraid of Ning Fan's Lightning Star and Divine Veins. However, he hadn't heard of Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou before. Besides, he didn't have the right to know about that classified information with his current identity. Therefore, he wasn't truly terrified of Ning Fan. Even if he knew about it, perhaps he wouldn't be frightened by the name of the emperor with his arrogant attitude.

With a flick of his finger, a dark sword came flying out from his sleeve and disappeared into thin air. It didn't disappear due to the sword teleporting, it actually vanished!

"Zhou Ming! Since you don't know what's good for you, then you only have yourself to blame! The name of this sword is 'Shadow Carrier'. It's more than enough to cut you down!"

The next moment after the sword vanished, innumerable dark leaves suddenly surrounded Ning Fan.

All the leaves then burst into dark mists, covering the entire fighting ring. The fighting ring became pitch-black as if it was midnight. The darkness could not only block the sight of the opponent, but also block the opponent's spirit sense.

The sword had the ability of 'Block Vision' through the process of Spirit Augmentation. A single black fallen leaf could hide the view of Mount Tai. Thousands of those leaves could entirely block one's sight. Once this ability is used on others, they wouldn't be able to anticipate when they would be attacked. Moreover, it was difficult to identify the directions where the attacks come from in this darkness.

When the darkness enveloped Ning Fan, extreme vigilance aroused within his heart. Suddenly, the hidden sword which blend in the darkness shot towards his back!

He couldn't see clearly, but he was able to hear the sound of the sword. It was the sound of the sword's pulse!

There was no escaping from a Supreme Grade sword that was used to cast a Nascent Soul Realm sword technique!

If it wasn't for his sword sense, it would definitely be impossible for him to detect the hidden sword's aura.

Ordinary Early Nascent Soul Realm cultivators could only identify the position of the sword after they have been stabbed by it. In other words, the only way for them to withstand the attack is to first receive an attack by the sword.

Yun Kuang didn't think Ning Fan would be able to spot the sword's shadow.

So what if you have the Lightning Star and Divine Veins?

Ning Fan's spirit sense was just at Early Nascent Soul Realm. The moment he successfully spots the sword's shadow, he would already be wounded. Furthermore, the true power of the technique wasn't just limited to concealing the sword to attack in darkness…

A grim smile appeared on Yun Kuang's face. But something happened next which froze his smile!

Countless strands of dark sword sense emerged within the dark mists in the fighting ring. Then, the dark mists were immediately cut into pieces.

The figure of Yun Kuang and Ning Fan reappeared on the ring with the dark sword held between the tips of Ning Fan's silver fingers. It couldn't break free from him!

The Silver Bone Realm! He successfully sensed the direction of the sword attack using his sword sense and captured it with his Silver Bone Realm Body Refining Technique!

Ning Fan shot Yun Kuang an sarcastic look and let out a cold smile.

"So this is the strength of the so-called Night Blade, Yun Kuang?"

Outside the ring, many of the cultivators were all flabbergasted as Yun Kuang's most powerful assassinating technique was easily broken by Ning Fan!

As for those who understood Yun Kuang's technique, they clearly knew that the fight wasn't over yet.

Yun Kuang's expression turned somber and his hands rapidly moved in an incantation pattern. "You are careless! Sword Technique, Shadow of the Devil!"

Upon hearing that call, the sword in Ning Fan's grip instantly burst into shadows and entered into his body through his arms!

The true power of that assassinating technique wasn't the attack earlier, but transforming into shadows and entering into the opponent's body after being held by him. It would then cut its way out from within the opponent's body.

As such, even a cultivator whose Body Refining Technique was at Silver Bone Realm would be destroyed from within, leaving a strong but empty corpse!

When the shadows of the sword went into Ning Fan's body, he was as calm as usual as if everything was within his calculations.

That flying sword was actually made and refined by a sword shadow!

A shadow is intangible. It was arduous to forge the body of the weapon using an intangible item. However, the weaponry refinement master of Rain Palace successfully created this weapon at the request of Yun Kuang.

The virtual shadow of a sword was so fragile that it couldn't hold any sword qi to display sword skills. However, if it was used for sneak attacks like earlier, the technique of bursting the sword into shadows was absolutely impossible to avoid!

Shadow Carrier Sword. With this sword, Yun Kuang killed thirteen Early and Intermediate Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. There was even one Late Nascent Soul Realm cultivator who was severely injured under his technique!

His wild attitude was actually a facade for his enemies to lower their guards. However, all of them never thought that the seemingly arrogant Yun Kuang had crafty thoughts to sneak attack and assassinate them!

When he saw that the secret of his Shadow Carrier Sword was exposed under the watchful eyes of the other cultivators, his face became even grimmer. However, when he thought that Ning Fan would certainly die after the sword shadow entered into his body, he wasn't as concerned about revealing his secret anymore.

But an unexpected scenario came into his gaze the next second!

In his eyes, Ning Fan's long hair danced in the air and his eyes turned serious. Black demonic marks gradually surfaced on the left part of his face. His aura experienced a great change and became icy cold, as if he was a different person now!

All of a sudden, his body disintegrated into pieces, just like how the sword broke into pieces and turned into shadows!

Every part of him formed into strands of dark sword sense. After moving half a zhang horizontally, the dark sword sense condensed into a new body!

That sword shadow was expelled from his body!

"Shadow Carrier Sword. It was indeed a good sword… This sword belongs to me now!"

His hand directly grasped on the sword without avoiding the cutting edge!

At this very moment, Ning Fan seemed as though he was a master of swords. The Shadow Carrier Sword seemed to be trembling in fear.

Ning Fan seized the sword once more and this time, Ning Fan merged his sword sense into the sword. Yun Kuang's spirit sense imprint was erased and Ning Fan planted a new one on it!

Ning Fan was the new owner of the sword!

Aside from that, he was obviously the winner of this fight!

*Cough*

After Yun Kuang's spirit sense imprint was cleared, a sharp pain could be felt in his mind, causing him to cough out a mouthful of fresh blood. Although he was only wounded lightly, astonishment radiated from his gaze for the first time in his life.

Sword Carrier Sword was considered as rare as one in a thousand as it possessed the ability to break into shadows. However, it was completely beyond his anticipation that Ning Fan's body could also disintegrate and condensed into a new body! (That was the power of Ning Fan's Black Tempest Rupture Art. He didn't know about it)

What's even more unimaginable was that Ning Fan dared to rob his sword sword in front of everyone!

It's fine that he defeated Yun Kuang! But how dare he seize the sword before everyone's eyes?! His actions was the same as giving a slap on Rain Palace's face! How dare he do that?!

Before Yun Kuang was truly enraged by his action, a number of Nascent Soul Realm cultivators from the Rain Palace stepped out and said solemnly,

"Zhou Ming! You are the one qualified to be the Seventh Commander of Great Jin as you won against Yun Kuang. But you crossed the line when you seized the sword from him! It showed that you simply don't respect the Rain Palace!"

Those who reprimanded Ning Fan were the small group of cultivators who did not have any idea of Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou. Yun Lie didn't move, Yun Ruowei didn't move and even Revered Snow didn't move. Those who heard of Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou like Song Yi remained at their position as well!

To seize a treasure in public was in fact crossing the line. Shadow Carrier Sword was a Supreme Grade magical treasure after all. It could break into shadows and it had powerful assassinating techniques. Such magical treasure should belong to the Rain Palace. How could it be owned by Ning Fan?

Despite knowing that fact, none of them spoke a word. Some of them were struck by fear while some were having complex thoughts such as Yun Ruowei…

Upon hearing the scoldings, Ning Fan let out a petty smile and deliberately acted as if he was shocked.

"Did I just seize a sword?"

"Hmmph! You openly erased Divine Messenger Yun Kuang's imprint on the flying sword. Isn't this called an act of seizing?" An old expert unfairly said.

"No, you're wrong. This is a gift from Yun Kuang. He said 'accept my single sword' earlier. I just did as what he said. That's it…"

"You just distort the facts and talk deceptively! He was asking you to accept his attack! Don't you have any sense of logic?!"

"Oh, I see. So I can't 'accept' his sword? I didn't know about that… Let's do it this way. Divine Messenger Yun Kuang, if you dare to 'accept my sword', I would return this sword to you! The thing is, are you brave enough?!"

Are you brave enough?!

Ning Fan's expression turned icy cold. He slapped his storage pouch and took out an exquisite sword sheath.

Dugu's Nascent Soul Realm sword qi swas concealed within the sheath… Heart Drawing Sword!

Ning Fan had yet to learn essence of the sword qi. Even if he fully comprehended it, he wouldn't be able to use it.

The sheath in his hand and the cold stare he shot at Yun Kuang made the latter quiver in terror!

Are you brave enough?! It was what he asked Ning Fan earlier before the fight. Now, Ning Fan asked him the same question without using the ability of reverberation in his voice. He just asked once but Yun Kuang was already hesitating!

He knew clearly that if he took on the Shadow Carrier Sword he would undoubtedly be wounded by it! It was because he had used the sword to cut down countless enemies so he's the one who understood best how hard it is to defend against the sword… He wouldn't be able to avoid the sword shadow that would enter his body as he didn't possess the strange ability that Ning Fan used earlier which allowed him to transform into shadows.

Moreover, when Ning Fan took out the delicate sheath, Yun Kuang's heart thumped violently!

It was as if his Dao Heart was being slashed by sword qi…

The pain was excruciating!

An irresistable sword qi is concealed inside the sheath! I can't block it!

He stared at Ning Fan with hatred emanating from his eyes. Although he despised Ning Fan, he didn't dare to face the sword like how Ning Fan had earlier.

He hid all his gloominess and turned emotionless. There wasn't a hint of happiness or anger on his face. He then cupped his fists towards Ning Fan and let out a cold snort before leaving.

He didn't dare to accept Ning Fan's sword!

Yun Kuang who was famous for his haughtiness submitted for the first time.

In his heart, his enmity towards Ning Fan had gone to a point where it can no longer go higher.

"You wait and watch!" That was his words to Ning Fan as he left.

What Yun Kuang didn't know was that even if Ning Fan obtained the Shadow Carrier Sword, he was still unable to access the full power of the sword like the power to turn the sword into shadows. It was because his real magic power was only at Half-Step Gold Core Realm. There's no way he would be able to completely control a Supreme Grade magical treasure in that state. Otherwise, why didn't he use the Five Elemental Swords or the Eastern Ocean Bell?

Although the sword qi of the Heart Drawing Sword was indeed powerful, he didn't know that it was impossible for Ning Fan to control it, unless Ning Fan achieves Nascent Formation!

In fact, Ning Fan had no other alternatives but to scare Yun Kuang off using the sword qi. He was not capable enough to kill Yun Kuang. Even if he had the capability to do so, he wouldn't take the latter's life in front of everyone. Being able to seize his magical treasure was already considered lucky.

As for Yun Kuang's action of forfeiting before even trying to fight, it was a favourable scenario from Ning Fan's helpless action earlier. It had struck awe into the cultivators who watched the fight.

The old expert from the Rain Palace who spoke for Yun Kuang had no excuses to put Ning Fan in difficult position anymore after seeing Yun Kuang withdraw from the fight.

"It's truly unexpected that Yun Kuang would avoid fighting…" Each of the experts from Rain Palace began to whisper among each other. Those who couldn't guess Ning Fan's identity were still trapped in a state of uncertainty.

A human body bursting into shadows… What exactly is that ability?

None of them had seen it before including Revered Snow even with his three thousand years of experience.

Meanwhile, the figure of Ning Fan deeply rooted into a woman's heart.

"He won! How could it be like this?!"

A slight anger and bitterness could be felt in her heart.

At first, she was worried that Ning Fan would die under Yun Kuang's sword. When Ning Fan became victorious over Yun Kuang, the image of his heroic figure became embedded in her mind.

If she was fond of him, then it wouldn't be a serious matter at all as it was only her affection towards him.

Unfortunately, Yun Ruowei didn't even take a liking to him. As such, the figure of Ning Fan in her heart turned into a huge Heart's Devil.

Unless she could forget everything about Ning Fan and treat him as a stranger, her the Heart's Devil would be difficult to resolve.

The way Ning Fan scared his opponent off and seized his weapon was too captivating. He could be considered as a cultivator of brilliance and talent. She couldn't disregard him at all.

Heart's Devil, Heart's Devil!

"Jerk! How am I going to settle my Heart's Devil?!" She bit her lips and wanted to cry but no tears were coming out of her eyes.

A Heart's Devil is really troublesome!

Truthfully, it was Ning Fan's fault as he had molested her by touching her breasts shamelessly.

…

There wasn't any need to continue discussing about the position of the Seventh Commander. After the battle, countless old monsters intended to inquire about Ning Fan's background and his ability but they had to wait until the meeting was over.

Afterwards, the next issue that all the Nascent Soul Realm cultivators needed to discuss was to cure Revered Snow!

The fighting ring dissipated and the clouds condensed into the Cloud Palace again. The fight that occurred just now didn't alarm any other cultivators in Ju Shan Guan as the auras emitted from the fight were all suppressed from leaking out by Revered Snow.

"If there's someone who can cure me, I would surely thank him by offering him luxurious gifts!" After saying that, he shut his eyes and sat down. That issue was widely discussed by all the Nascent Soul Realm cultivators at the scene.

When the discussion ended, no one came up. There were some cultivators who knew about Pill Refinement Technique among them. However, the best Pill Master was only at the level of Three Revolution and he failed to identify the source of the Revered Master's injuries.

This time, Ning Fan took the initiative to help Revered Snow. As a matter of fact, taking the initiative wasn't his style of doing things. But to avoid becoming an enemy of Revered Snow, he was willing to offer his help to him after agreeing to his conditions. That method was undeniably the best approach to solve the issue in regards to the Cold Pine Essence.

"I can help Revered Snow to 'detoxify'!" Ning Fan wore a stern and serious expression. He mentioned the word 'detoxify' in an especially clear manner.

When the speaker speaks with intention, the listeners listen with seriousness. Each and every one of the Nascent Soul Realm cultivators from the Rain Palace was surprised at his words.

"What? Revered Snow wasn't injured but poisoned?! Zhou Ming, you must not talk nonsense!" All of them didn't believe that Revered Snow was poisoned.

Only Revered Snow's eyes flashed when he heard of the word 'poisoned'. He knew what Ning Fan said was correct. However, with his three thousand years of experience, he had no idea of how he was poisoned. Could this Zhou Ming really cure him?!

"I am a Four Revolution Pill Master…"

A single sentence from Ning Fan made the entire atmosphere go silent.

This scene was even more difficult to believe than him winning against Yun Kuang.

As for Yun Ruowei, she was almost pushed over the edge to reveal Ning Fan's identity.

"It's impossible. With just only a few years of Dao cultivation, how could he possibly become a Four Revolution Pill Master?! Stop stealing the limelight, if not my Heart's Devil can never be erased! Detestable… There's not a good man in Black Demon Sect. None!"

The uproar in the hall turned silent again when Yun Lie burst into hearty laughter.

"This man is certainly a Four Revolution Pill Master. I can guarantee it…"

"What?! Divine Messenger Yun Lie witnessed this person refining a pill before?"

"No, it's just my instinct. It tells me that he is truly a Four Revolution Pill Master!"

The ugly man, Yun Lie, was a straightforward man. The words he spoke left all the experts speechless.

Some of them began to jeer and taunt Ning Fan saying that he was trying to court people's favour by saying something impressive. Some other cultivators wanted Ning Fan to refine pills in front of everyone to prove his identity.

Ning Fan ignored all of them. His eyes only fixed on Revered Snow's. To him, everybody other than Revered Snow was unimportant.

"You really can cure my poison?" Revered Snow spoke solemnly.

"Actually, I've cured this poison once before… If Senior's condition persists, Senior's cultivation realm will start to fall…"

"What are the conditions?!"

"The Cold Pine Essence will be mine! Furthermore, Senior has to swear the Great Oath of Heart's Devil that you owe me a favour!"

Ning Fan's eyes glittered. To him, the Cold Pine Essence and owing him a favour were things that Revered Snow would need to hesitate to decide.

But the second when he finished stating his conditions, Revered Snow never hesitated and promised him immediately.

"Sure!"

It must be a joke. When Revered Snow discovered that Ning Fan was the disciple of the Old Devil, how could he still forcefully take the Cold Pine Essence away from Ning Fan? For someone like him who knew about the Old Devil's personality and the tradition of Black Devil Sect, it was considered lucky that Ning Fan didn't seize his items in return.

Yes… The Old Devil was already hurt and lost his power and influence after his cultivation realm declined. The high-ranking officers in Rain Palace knew that the Deacon of Four Oceans was staying in Rain World to heal himself. They also knew that his enemy came from a powerful background. Therefore, none of them dared to be friends with the Old Devil. However, none of them dared to offend him as well.

Rain Palace had no right to ask about the enmity between True Immortals. Although the Old Devil had a lot of enemies, it didn't mean that he didn't have any True Immortals as friends.

As such, Revered Snow had already decided in his mind that he wasn't going to snatch the Cold Pine Essence from Ning Fan anymore. Besides, he was undoubtedly going to owe Ning Fan a favour! In fact, he would owe any Pill Master a favour if the Pill Master could cure him. Aside from that, he would also send some gifts too. Since Ning Fan did not asked for any other rewards, the conditions he requested were worthwhile.

So, did Revered Snow lose anything? No. As a matter of fact, he would profit from this.

It was as if he did not need to pay any price to have Ning Fan cure his poison.

The only matter that made him feel concern was whether Ning Fan was a true Four Revolution Pill Master or not.

Yun Lie's instinct is a pile of bullshit. His words aren't worthy enough to be trusted. He just spoke in support of Ning Fan as he had a good impression towards him.

With Revered Snow's Divine Transformation Realm capability, he saw through Ning Fan cultivation base and knew that Ning Fan was only at Half-Step Gold Core Realm. He was just fortunate enough to defeat Yun Kuang. He relied solely on his empty show of strength and successfully scared Yun Kuang off. If Yun Kuang was a little braver to accept his sword, perhaps the sword wouldn't be in his hands anymore. The way he won the fight could be said to be half dependent on his strength while the other half relied on his courage and intelligence.

At just Half-Step Gold Core Realm, he possessed a strong combat power and held many trump cards. Besides, he came from a deep background and he was also exceptionally intelligent.

But could he really refine pills? Pill refinement isn't child's play. According to Revered Snow's knowledge, the Deacon of Four Oceans, Han Yuan Ji, indeed had superb techniques when he was still a True Immortal. However, he had an impetuous personality and he couldn't calm himself down to refine pills and equipment. As such, his Pill Refinement Technique was only at Three Revolution only.

Could Ning Fan whose bone age hadn't even reached twenty-years-old really be a Four Revolution Pill Master?

The people from Black Devil Sect are always full of lies. It's hard to differentiate whether they are speaking the truth or a lie.

"Hopefully this young kid can cure me…" Revered Snow might seem to be expressionless, but he was letting out a few sighs in his hearts. He resigned himself to his fate.

At least Ning Fan was still better than the other Nascent Soul Realm cultivators as he could identify that Revered Snow was poisoned.

Let's see how it goes.

<strong>Note:</strong>

1. Just to clarify once more, in this novel, fiendgods are the cultivators who possessed Immemorial Devil Veins.

2. Dual Spirit cultivators are cultivators who cultivate two spirit natures. For example, Ning Fan cultivated fire element and ice element.

<strong>Translator Team:</strong>

G-Team [Tommy (TL), Roel (Editor)]