Grasping Evil

On the bed, Ning Fan and Yun Ruowei's opened their eyes at the same time.

Finally, my Heart's Devil is eliminated… Yun Ruowei heaved a sigh of relief and then let go of Ning Fan's hand. When she got out of the bed, her expression turned shy.

Ning Fan rubbed his shoulders tiredly since using the technique was quite exhausting for him.

"Why? Don't tell me that your Heart's Devil hasn't been eliminated completely."

"No… It's just… Thank you!"

She bit her lips and breathed heavily. She was just too bashful to thank him properly.

Ning Fan was not really concerned about her. He was just satisfied with the technique he just casted.

Soul Memory Spirit Searching Technique would severely damage the Sea of Consciousness of the cultivator. The cultivator might even turn into an idiot. On the other hand, the Dream Entering Technique could be a good way to spy on the cultivator's memories. However, the dreams may not be always true. Thus, compared to Soul Memory Spirit Searching Technique, this technique may not allow 100% access to the true memories of the person. If it is used to look into the memories of closed ones, it would be a better alternative than the Soul Memory Spirit Searching Technique.

The whole process only took half a day. Yun Ruowei had no intention of staying with Ning Fan any longer and left hurriedly. After eliminating the Heart's Devil, the complicated feelings she had towards Ning Fan were eliminated. To her, Ning Fan was just like any other cultivator whom she would treat coldly.

However, before she left, she hesitated for a moment and said, "Once this demon tide is over, I guess I will never return to Orchid Temple again. If you need my help in the future, you can search for me at the Alliance of the Southeastern Cultivators. I will surely lend you a hand."

"If there's a need for it, I will find you."

Ning Fan greeted her with cupped fist and guided her down the stairs.

At least she gave me her promise of help in the future. Apparently, she didn't want me to help her for free.

Hundreds of cultivation countries including Yun Country were located at the southeastern part of the Rain World. This region was called the Southeastern Continent. The Alliance of the Southeastern Cultivators was a business league established by the rogue cultivators in there.

Why doesn't she continue cultivating and carry out tasks at the Division of Rain Palace instead of joining the business league of the rogue cultivators?

Ning Fan didn't ask for the reason.

It was still drizzling outside when she left the building.

She walked barefooted while holding an oil-paper umbrella, disappearing in the rain. However, when Ning Fan went back inside the building, she stopped and turned her head to look at Ming Yu Building with a beautiful smile on her face.

"I guess I've misunderstood him. He's quite a serious man…"

…

Ning Fan went back into the building and got rid of all the distracting thoughts and meditated.

After consuming the three droplets of demon blood, his wounds were all recovered!

When his demon power achieved the Half-Step Gold Core Realm, it was much easier for him to cast the Dream Entering Technique compared to when his demon power was before consuming the demon blood.

He stood near a window and peeked at the lady who was walking in the rain with an umbrella with a faint smile forming on his face.

"Holding an umbrella… Hmm. Should I give Fellow Daoist Yin an umbrella…A lady who holds an umbrella is surprisingly quite a sight. However, I don't think any cultivators, regardless of genders, would want to hold an umbrella except for Yun Ruowei…"

When he was deep in his thoughts, the Eastern Ocean Bell in his storage pouch vibrated gently and stopped right afterwards.

That vibration made Ning Fan's knit his brows together. He spread his spirit sense a thousand li around his area but he found nothing unusual.

"It's weird. Why did the Eastern Ocean Bell tremble? Never mind. Forget it. After ten days, we'll be leaving this place anyway. The remaining ten days are a good opportunity for me to merge the Immemorial Star into the Separation Slayer Sword…"

After a short while, he still caved in to his curiosity and doubts. So he performed divination to foresee the bizarre feeling in his heart.

However, the only thing he could foresee was the omen of grave dangers.

Undoubtedly, someone was out to eliminate him and that person possessed a very high cultivation.

The only cultivators who have such powerful cultivation realm… Perhaps that person is a Divine Transformation Realm cultivator?!

No, it cannot be Revered Snow… With him out of the picture, there's only one Divine Transformation Realm cultivator left in Great Jin – Demon General Carp!

"Impossible! He shouldn't know that I killed one of his partners while holding the other two in my captive. What triggered him to eliminate me? If that's what's going to happen, I need to take precautionary measures. We need to leave Ju Shan Guan as soon as possible…"

…

Green mist permeated the air in the deepest part of the Dragon Vision Pond. In the centre of the place was a swamp which was guarded by thousands of demons.

Within the pond, there was a gigantic beast of blood-red colour. It was as big as a thousand zhang tall mountain, absorbing the dragon qi in the swamp while in a dormant state.

The beast was an amalgamation of different animals. It had the head of a carp with sharp fangs and a body of a snake with eight red claws under it.

Lightning rays flashed on its bloody scales and anyone who witnessed the current state of the beast would know that it was in the middle of transforming into a dragon.

Bloody Carp transforming into a dragon! Undeniably, the beast was the true form of the Divine Transformation Realm Demon General!

The bloody pupils of the beast blinked continuously while the horns of a dragon began to grow from its head.

This transformation would continue for the next ten days. The green color of the mist started to slowly dim while the color red began to take its place, turning the mist into blood-red in color. All of a sudden, a gust of strong wind encircled the enormous head of the beast. When the mist faded, the head of a carp fully transformed into a dragon's head. It soared into the sky and a thousand zhang long blood dragon emerged under the sun!

At this moment, countless lightning rays appeared and gathered up above the sky which indicated the start of a Tribulation for demons who succeeded in their transformation. All the demons in the vicinity were stricken with fear.

The blood dragon changed into a naked man with bloody red scales all over his body.

He was the complete reincarnation of a mad devil with his red hair hanging down from his head. In his left eye, two blood-red demon stars violently flickered!

Two silver dragon horns grew from his forehead, suffused with lightning rays!

Demon General, Li Ban! (Li '鲤' carries the meaning of a carp. Ban '伴' carries the meaning of companion.)

He opened his mouth while facing the Tribulation of Lightning and sucked in all the lightning rays into his belly. He then let out a satisfied smile.

"Not bad. Transformation from a bloody carp into a dragon allowed me to master the second transformation – Lightning Dragon. I shall never fear the Tribulation of Lightning anymore! So this is the power of the secret art granted by the Demon Marshal. It's really good…"

He replaced that smile with an indifferent expression and waved his hand. A necklace crafted from the bones of countless beasts appeared on his palm.

This necklace was out of the ordinary. A strand of Void Realm power flowed within it. It was… a "Forged Void Treasure"! Forged Void Treasures were the failed versions of the Void Treasures. It belonged to a Void Refinement or Void Fragmentation Realm cultivator who failed in refining the treasure into a Void Treasure and gifted it to the Demon General instead. Originally, there were twelve teeth on the necklace. Now, only nine of them were emanating a blood glow as two of them became dull while another one was… crushed!

"The Flower Demon and Wind Demon were captured while the Lion Demon was killed… Hmmph! Without the help of this 'Void Necklace", I might not have known that it was a human's doing! The culprit is in Ju Shan Guan of Great Jin… There's no mistaking it. The blood qi of the Lion Demon was on his body. He must've killed him… However, he seems to possess some extraordinary treasure which could conceal himself from the power of my necklace. What amazes me the most is not the treasure that hides him from me but the 'Offering Vessel of Ancient Demons' that shattered the void power from my necklace…"

He let out an evil laugh while his eyes radiated a cold light.

"I don't care whether my partners are dead or alive… However, the Lion Demon carried the Immemorial Star and the Immemorial Dragon Blood that I granted him. They must not fall into the hands of that human. Besides, he also possesses an Offering Vessel of Ancient Demons… I'm going to find him myself and retrieve the items. I guess it would be a fruitful trip. Since the mission that was assigned by the Demon Marshal can only be completed when I arrive at the Demon World, I am going to finish off this little human first!"

…

There were still three days ahead before the teleportation formation could be activated.

After travelling across tens of cultivation cities, the journey to the teleportation formation still needed two days and a half.

Ning Fan had already resigned from his position as the Seventh Commander of Great Jin. Now, he, Yin Suqiu and Jing Zhuo were rushing towards the centre of Great Jin using the Short-Ranged Transportation Portals.

Currently, all troops in Ju Shan Guan should be marching towards the demons' base. Soon, they would unleash an all-out attack to reclaim the land of Great Jin.

However, Ning Fan no longer concerned himself with them. He was not interested in needlessly risking his life only to be killed by the Demon General.

The only thing he was worried about was the sense of danger was getting stronger and stronger to him… Every time they used the Short-Ranged Transportation Portals which allowed them to travel away for ten thousands of li, the feeling would become weaker. But it would catch up with them within a short period of time. It was as if no matter where they went, there would always be someone behind them.

"Don't tell me that the Demon General abandoned the final battle just to chase after me!"

When he thought of this possibility, it sent chills down his spine. He did not dare to stop in his way towards his destination.

Two days later, they finally arrived at the centre of the country, Jiang Zhou City. The Ancient Teleportation Formation was here.

Ning Fan kept three hundred thousand battle points and used the rest to exchange for immortal jade.

After submitting his battle points to the person in charge, the three of them were guided to the teleportation formation which was built underground.

A thousand li under the surface of the city was excavated to set up the arrangement of the formation.

The atmosphere below the ground was musty with long and big rocks everywhere.

Ning Fan used his spirit sense to probe, encompassing the thousand li of the area from where he stood and started to count the number of formation eyes. The results left him astonished.

This formation consists of seventy thousand formation eyes. If there's no blueprint for the entire formation, it would be impossible for me to set up this formation. Even if I have the blueprint and know about the precise spots for the formation eyes, I still cannot draw seventy thousand formation eyes together without the Void Refinement Realm Spirit Sense.

It must be an Immortal Void Realm Formation. Moreover, it should be one of the best formation among the Immortal Void Realm Formation.

This formation only allows 10 people to enter at a time. Each of them has to pay one hundred thousand battle points.

It was able to teleport the cultivators to dozens of places. However, each activation of the formation costs seven hundred thousand immortal jade.

As such, the profit gained from each activation would be three hundred thousand immortal jade. The Rain Palace will get 90% of the total and the remaining 10% would go to Great Jin.

Such a huge amount of profit being taken away by the Rain Palace caused dissatisfaction among the members of Great Jin. Each time they activated the teleportation formation, two hundred and seventy thousand immortal jade went into the Rain Palace's pocket. It would be 27 million in total if that persisted for a hundred years. Try to imagine the amount of profit they would lose in a thousand years.

The king of Great Jin would at least live for another few thousand years. He would naturally have issues with the Rain Palace as he was going to lose millions of immortal jade without any logical reasons.

If he amassed such amount of wealth, he could break through Divine Transformation Realm!

Then, Great Jin would become a High-Grade cultivation country!

Perhaps the true reason why the Rain Palace established a Division here at Great Jin was to claim the profits for themselves. Or they might have intended to hinder the growth of Great Jin. At the end of the day, the teleportation formation made both the Rain Palace and Great Jin rich. At the least, Great Jin could still request the help of foreign cultivators using the great amount of immortal jade they gained. Maybe other Mid-Grade cultivation countries were unable to do that.

"An Immortal Void Realm Formation. This is quite rare!" Ning Fan kept his spirit sense and gave a praise.

The cultivator who was guiding them heard him and said, "Senior Zhou is indeed knowledgeable. It's truly an Immortal Void Realm Formation. It is said that the master of formations from the Rain Palace personally came to assess this formation and came to the same conclusion as you. It's really unexpected for senior to be able to identify it accurately when you only have seen it for the first time."

"Thanks."

Ning Fan only nodded his head as a reply to the cultivator's flattery. Even so, the cultivator felt happy and proud.

He was just an Early Gold Core Realm cultivator. Being able to have a conversation with a Nascent Soul Realm expert was a stroke of luck for him. Besides, the expert whom he was talking to was quite famous in Great Jin as he created a great record from the previous battle.

Jing Zhuo looked at Ning Fan in admiration. If I achieved Nascent Formation at the Endless Sea, I will become like him, being respected and honoured by others.

As for Yin Suqiu, she covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hold her laughter when she looked at how Ning Fan acted like a Nascent Soul Realm expert.

She was thinking about what would that cultivator feel if he discovered that the one he was calling senior was just a Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivator below the age of 20.

Ten thousand zhang below the ground, there was a vast land supported by a magic spell.

The floor composed of dark slab stones made of basalt. Some glittering spots could even be found in those tiles. Those spots were originally hollowed out, but they were then filled up with immortal jades. The spots were the formations eyes that were drawn together using mind power.

Seven people were already there, waiting for the activation of the formation. Five of them were Gold Core Realm cultivators while two others were Early Nascent Soul Realm experts. When they saw Ning Fan and his friends, all of them revealed friendly smiles and cupped their fists to greet them.

"We are Chen Xiu and Yang Zhu. It's our great honour to meet Commander Zhou Ming!"

"Oh? You two look familiar…"

"Hehe. I guess Commander Zhou forgot about us. We, too, are from the War Division. We once met before at the Cloud Palace when Revered Snow summoned all the Nascent Soul Realm cultivators."

Chen Xiu and Yang Zhu were both foreign cultivators. Each of them was an old ancestor figure in their own Mid-Grade cultivation country. When they went to a Low Grade cultivation country, the cultivators of the entire country would need to welcome them respectfully.

However, when both of them met Ning Fan, they acted courteously.

The only reason for them to behave in that manner was because of Ning Fan's strength. His power won over their hearts and gained their admiration.

" *Cough* So it's Fellow Daoist Chen and Fellow Daoist Yang. It's great to see you two here."

Ning Fan replied with a faint smile but he was deeply shocked in his heart.

No, he was not surprised by their courtesy but he was shocked by their faces. He sensed that both of them were going to die soon by the look of their faces!

Physiognomy was extremely abstruse to learn but the look of looming death was easy to spot. Only cultivators who were about to die a dog's death would have the that look on their faces.

In other words, the two of them were going to die. Furthermore, their deaths would be extremely horrible!

Are their deaths related to the danger that I've been sensing?

Don't tell me the Demon General Li Ban has arrived in Jiang Zhou City!

"It's bad! We must teleport now! If the Divine Transformation Realm Demon General comes, none of us would be able stop him!"

<strong>Note:</strong>

-

<strong>Translator Team:</strong>

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