Grasping Evil

Down the hill, there was a vast meadow full of tall grasses. Occasionally, a few nightingales would fly past the grasses and settle on a weeping willow tree by the riverbank. Ning Fan climbed up to the summit of a spiritual mountain and excavated his abode for a secluded cultivation.

The excitement he felt ever since they entered the Lost World Tower was replaced with peace and serenity.

Core Formation, I want to achieve Core Formation!

With so many treasures and pills in his possession, he could have formed his Gold Core long ago without fail. The only element that held him back was the heart devil that he was reluctant to cut. He was reluctant to forgo his feelings for the women he loved.

However, after everything he had been through in his journey, an intention of defying the heavens rose in his heart. He no longer feared the heavens, let alone the heart's devil!

I suppose it would take me around 10 years to form my core. The remaining 310 years would all be used to increase my cultivation realm for as much as possible!

Before he started to have a breakthrough the bottleneck and attain Gold Core Realm, the first thing he did was to cure his injuries from the previous battles.

The Divine Transformation Realm Demon General… The devil cultivators from the Demon Sealing Sect… The self-destructive use of teleportation in the Endless Sea… His injuries were just too severe. If it wasn't because of the injuries which he suppressed by force, he could have smoothly passed Bei Xiao Man's test.

If he did not try to fully recover, the probability of forming his Gold Core would become lower.

…

For ten years, he sat up straight in a meditative position in his abode without moving a single limb.

His body recuperated from the cracked bones and superficial cuts. His unstable Sea of Consciousness was also fully restored after taking countless recovery pills! Through the past ten years of treating his wounds, his magic power began to grow a little more powerful.

Ning Fan slapped his storage pouch and fished out a three chi* long black jade ruler. It was known as the Heavenly Measuring Ruler. It was made by taking inspiration from a type of magical treasure from the Four Heavens Immortal World that was used to measure a cultivator's magic power.

Every cultivator who entered the tower would receive it as a gift if they spend more than a million immortal jade.

With this ruler in hand, cultivators would be able to know the speed of their growth in terms of magic power.

For common cultivators, the higher the cultivation realm, the stronger the magic power. That was the norm in the cultivation world. Ning Fan, however, was an exception. Since he fused his magic power and demon power into one, his total magic power was comparable to an Early Gold Core Realm expert who was on the verge of breaking through to the Mid Gold Core Realm.

Of course, a cultivator's combat power could not be judged solely on their magic power and cultivation realm. For cultivators who possessed Immemorial Divine or Devil Veins like Ning Fan, they were able to battle with experts who had higher cultivation realms than themselves.

He held the Heavenly Measuring Ruler and squinted his eyes to see the scale on the ruler.

When he rotated his magic power within his body, the body of the ruler glowed and stopped at the sixth unit of the scale. After fusing both the magic power and his demon power, the glowing part raised to the ninth unit.

The unit was only used for measuring the magic power of cultivators who were at Gold Core Realm and above. Furthermore, this unit carried a hidden meaning with it. A single unit of magic power indicated 60 years of cultivation for common cultivators at an environment where spiritual qi is thin like that of a Low-Grade Cultivation Country.

Nine units of magic power signified that he was not far away from achieving the Mid Gold Core Realm. However, it was still worlds apart from a Nascent Soul Realm expert.

In order to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm, one has to obtain 50 units of magic power! For ordinary cultivators who do not have any luck in finding pills or treasures, they would need to cultivate at least 3000 years to gain that much magic power. But a Gold Core Realm cultivator only has a lifespan of 1000 years. As such, talent and the cultivation environment determine the end point of a cultivator. Those without unique talents could only hope that they encounter good opportunities like joining a powerful sect or robbing other cultivators and obtain pills and treasures to improve their magic power faster than cultivating…

The required magic power to break through the rest of the cultivation realms above Nascent Soul Realm increased sharply. For instance, a Mid Nascent Soul Realm expert must possess at least a 100 units of magic power. A Late Nascent Soul Realm expert must have 300 units of magic power. In order to break through the Peak Nascent Soul Realm, an individual must attain 1500 units of magic power!

In layman's term, a Peak Nascent Soul Realm expert's magic power is equivalent to the total magic power of 300 Early Gold Core Realm cultivators… That is the huge difference between the Gold Core Realm and the Nascent Soul Realm!

As for Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts who want to advance toDivine Transformation Realm, they would need 100000 units of magic power!

Magic power would increase bit by bit daily whenever cultivators cultivate. However, the speed of growth was difficult to discern. Therefore, the Heavenly Measuring Ruler was created to allow cultivators to keep track on their improvements.

Ning Fan then took out different kinds of items that he had long prepared for his cultivation from his storage pouch.

A bottle containing the Primordial Yin blood from the female virgins of Song Country, a cultivation pill obtained from the old ancestor of Hu Clan, Hu Fengzi and a Third Revolution pill – Rainbow Gold Core which could increase the chances of successfully forming a Gold Core. Aside from that, he also possessed a Mid Gold Core Realm Dao Fruit, a Peak Gold Core Realm Dao Fruit and nine Min Luo Fruits!

These items would drastically boost my magic power even after I form my Gold Core!

But it was still not the appropriate time for him to consume them. Ning Fan first had to work hard to perfect the realms of his cultivation methods or techniques.

"Black Devil Spell" is at the peak of the second level.

"Snow Treading Art" is at the peak of the second level.

"Yin Yang Transformation" is at the third realm of the first level.

"Camelia Scripture" is at the peak of the second level.

"Colossal Bone Secret Art" is at the fourth realm of the third level.

The higher the level of his cultivation methods, the stronger the destructive power of his magic power. Even though the amount of magic power he possessed remains the same, the quality of his magic power became more pure. Other than the Yin Yang Transformation, the rest of his cultivation methods or techniques could be improved through self-cultivation.

After knowing what he needed to do, he sat down in his abode and breathed in deeply, allowing the spiritual qi to spread to every fiber of his being. Meanwhile, he rotated the magic power in his dantian, resonating with heaven and earth. He practiced this breathing exercise every single day.

…

50 years flew by in a flash. Each and every of one of his cultivation methods were levelled up except for his Yin Yang Transformation.

"Black Devil Spell" and "Snow Treading Art" broke through to the peak of the third level!

"Camelia Scripture" and "Colossal Bone Secret Art" reached the peak of the third level!

Yes. Cultivating the Colossal Bone Secret Art needed Burning Blood Pills. During the cultivation of that art, Ning Fan unleashed his killing intent without any restraints in this vast space after consuming multiple Burning Blood Pills. A large number of mountains and streams were obliterated but all of them would be restored in the form of mist not long after being destroyed.

Currently, he held the Heavenly Measuring Ruler in his hand once more and there were 8 units displayed on the scale. When he added in his demon power, he had a total of 11 units of magic power. He had already surpassed the standard amount of magic power possessed by just about any Mid Gold Core Realm expert!

It's the time for me to break through the bottleneck of the Gold Core Realm!

He gulped down the Primordial Yin blood and assimilated it into his veins.

As a result, his "Yin Yang Transformation" broke through to the sixth realm of the first level!

At the same time, his magic power increased to 10 units! He could now be considered as a Mid Gold Core Realm without the need of adding in his demon power!

He grasped the cultivation pill from the ground and stared at it in silence.

I've fulfilled my promise to Hu Fengzi. Therefore, I am qualified to consume it!

After absorbing the essence of the pill, his magic power reached 12 units!

His gaze then shifted to the two Dao Fruits in front of him. They contained the cultivation power amassed by two Gold Core Realm experts in their whole lives of cultivation.

It has been rumored that consuming a Dao Fruit would allow a Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivator to directly break through to Gold Core Realm in an instant! For Gold Core Realm experts who consume a Dao Fruit, their cultivation realms would have small but significant improvement.

In terms of magic power units, a Dao Fruit obtained from an ordinary Gold Core Realm expert would increase at least 5 units of magic power. This was why it was said to enable Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivators to achieve Gold Core Realm in one go.

A Mid Gold Core Realm Dao Fruit contained a slightly higher amount of magic power than the ordinary ones while the Peak Gold Core Realm Dao Fruit could raise a cultivator's magic power by 6 units!

Ten days passed by in a blink of an eye! Ning Fan completely ingested the fruits and his magic power reached 23 units in total. That amount of magic power was even greater than that of a Peak Gold Core Realm cultivator. Moreover, after he form his Gold Core, he would be able to break through to the Peak Gold Core Realm in one go. Despite that, there was still a long way to reach the Nascent Soul Realm.

Within a hundred years, I will achieve Gold Core Realm. The remaining two hundred and sixty years would then be used to form my Nascent Soul!

The last step before he start to form his Gold Core was to swallow the Min Luo Fruits!

The Min Luo Fruits would boost his state of mind to the Mid Gold Core Realm, which was more than what was required to form his Gold Core. As for the Heart's Devil which had been haunting him for so long, he planned to cut it in the dream realm under the effects of the Min Luo Fruits. It would be the same like the time where he helped Yun Ruowei!

In fact, he helped Yun Ruowei with no demands at all because he wanted to experience the process of cutting down the Heart's Devil.

However, the thing that was still holding him back from cutting his own Heart's Devil was his woman, Zhihe.

Zhihe was his Heart of Dao… If he were to cut his Heart's Devil, he would lose the feelings he held towards her and became a cold-blooded person!

He was reluctant to become one of those heartless monsters! His goal was to become like his master, the Old Devil – a devil that had feelings!

He placed the nine Min Luo Fruits into his mouth and swallowed!

His eyes turned clear and roared, "I want to form my Gold Core!"

In the Min Luo Dream Realm, a three-year-old boy emerged outside the house of Hai Ning's Ning Clan. He was staring blankly at the huge building before him at the entrance. He was one of the adopted children in the Ning Clan.

In fact, the clan was adopting many children whose parents were either dead or have been killed. Once the kids were brought in, their memories would be wiped out clean by the cultivators of the clan. It might seem cruel and unfair to the children but they could at least avoid becoming casualties in the battlefield or starving to death. Besides, they were not treated poorly at all in the house of Ning Clan.

In Hai Ning City which was surrounded by a greenish-blue river, countless children with confused expressions were being led to their respective divisions. Those who possess enough potential to become cultivators were known as "young masters" and they would be brought up by cultivators. In contrast, those who lacked natural talent would be adopted by the servants of the clan. All of the servants were mortals. Only servants who became scholars and practice martial arts would gain a higher social status among the rest.

A boy who had just turned 10 stood at a riverbank while carrying a basket made of bamboo at his back. He was looking at the reflection of himself on the surface of the calm river. A moment later, he let out a deep sigh. His name was Ning Fan. He was adopted by the Ning Clan when he was three and as usual, he did not remember a single thing before his adoption. He was given the name Fan (凡 ) which meant "ordinary". It was because there was nothing extraordinary about him!

As he did not possess any latent talent for cultivation, he was raised by a servant and became a servant himself. Neither did he have potential for literature nor martial arts. Therefore, he was considered one of the most insignificant beings among the servants.

However, he had a younger brother who was uncommon. Although he was not chosen to be a cultivator, he had an inborn talent for martial arts of the mortal world. He was especially excellent in archery. At the age of nine, he was able to fire an arrow with a bow weighing 47 kilograms. In the mortal world, he was a genius in martial arts.

After the rumor about him spread around in the Ning Clan, a cultivator who specialized in Body Refining Cultivation took a fancy on him. The cultivator considered passing his techniques to him, Ning Gu. Shockingly, he simply rejected the offer because he was unwilling to follow an immortal's path of cultivation. However, that impulsive young boy replied to the cultivator using insolent words, which in turn, offended him. As such, the disciples of that cultivator, the "young masters" began to make trouble for Ning Fan and his brother.

In the house of the servants of Ning Clan, they were raised by a man who became their stepfather, who was known as Ning Daniu. Their stepfather was rather timid. But when he knew that Ning Gu had upset the cultivator, he almost beat the life out of Ning Gu. It was on that day that Ning Fan brought his brother with him and left their stepfather's house.

Ning Fan knew that his brother would need time to practice his martial arts. So he, alone, went to work and shouldered the responsibility of a breadwinner. No matter what kind of job he was offered, be it short-term or a long-term one, as long as he can earn some coins, he would work with no excuses. The sufferings he experienced in those days without his stepfather made him mature capable person. He learned how to read a person's face and acted according to the situation. He also learned many skills which enabled him to do a lot of things. Most importantly, he acquired knowledge how to differentiate various spiritual herbs!

Today, the work he got was to collect spiritual herbs for Ning Clan. He was actually on his way to the forest when he stopped by the river and took a good look of himself on his reflection on the water. His hand gently stroked the purplish bump on his cheek, letting out a dispirited sigh.

Yesterday, his brother, Ning Gu, got himself into trouble which led to a fight between him and a few drunken men outside a restaurant. Unfortunately, the drunkards knew a few magic techniques that managed to wound Ning Gu. When Ning Fan arrived at the scene, he immediately dashed towards the group of men and retaliated like a mad dog.

"Immortals and mortals…There surely is a huge gap between these two beings. Despite Ning Gu having a natural gift for martial arts, he is still weak and fragile compared to an immortal. If Ning Gu promised the cultivator that day to follow the path of cultivation, it would have been a different story…"

"However, I heard some rumor spreading that Miss Qing from the Ning Clan saved me that night after I was knocked out…"

When his words fell, the 10-years-old Ning Fan who had been talking to his own reflection suddenly turned speechless.

"I… I feel that there's something weird going on. It's like I've forgotten something very important. But I can't seem to remember it…"

Ning Fan shook his head and cast the doubts off his mind. He carried his bamboo basket and continued on his path towards the green hill to collect herbs. He liked to sing. As he walked, he was singing the song of Wu Country. However, he restricted his passion to sing when he entered the forest in order to not attract unwanted attention from the wolf king.

He took out a type of fragrant grass from his pocket and spread it all over his body to conceal his smell… Packs of wolves lived in the mountain and among them was a wolf king. Multiple cultivators have been eaten alive by the wolf king when they came here for secluded meditation.

They might have magic power that could cause harm to others, but they did not have Ning Fan's vigilance. In fact, he was always cautious and careful because if he wasn't, he would have been bullied or punished when he was still young. It was the cruelty of society that forged his current attitude.

Before the sun had set, he safely collected a few kinds of spiritual herbs and placed them into his bamboo basket. Most of the spiritual herbs he found were one-hundred-years-old and above. The medicinal strength in those herbs was too strong to be eaten by mere mortals. Only several mountain ginsengs and wild lingzhi[1] mushrooms were edible for mortals like him.

I guess these herbs can be exchanged for quite some money. Then I will find a master for Ning Gu to train him well.

He was very delighted whenever he thought of what he would be able to do with that money. However, his happiness distracted him on his way home. He got lost in the jungle, trying to figure out the direction where he came from.

All of a sudden, he arrived at a pond which was widely known as the Absolute Clear Spring at the foot of the hill. A female was currently removing her clothes intent on enjoying a wonderful bath in the spring. As Ning Fan was creeping around the bushes, he heard some noises from somewhere in front of him. He could not see clearly who and what was there since it was hidden behind the trees.

Behind a tall tree with an enormous bark stood a few teenagers who were smirking lecherously. They were drooling over the scene they were about to witness!

"It's really unexpected to see Ning Qinger bathing in this spring. Hehe. This must be a one-in-a-lifetime chance bestowed upon us by the heavens. Ning Qinger had always behaved proudly since she is being looked highly by the master of the clan because of her latent talents. Her arrogant demeanor disgusts me but I can't do anything to her in the house since she's under the master's protection. Now, however, no one is going to be protecting her. We can stare at whatever we want on that naked body. *Chuckle*"

"I got a plan! Once she enters into the spring, all of us should rush towards her and pin her down. Then we can do whatever we want to her, instead of just staring."

The young girl who was around 15-year-old was a Fifth-Level Vein Opening Realm cultivator. She came to the forest to temper herself through killing wolves. During her practice, some wolves' blood spurted over her green robe. She didn't want to return with the stench of blood staying on her body. Therefore, she stopped by the spring to clean herself. But she never knew that she was being peeped by a few teenagers. To a young girl like her, being peeped on during a bath or being humiliated sexually was really a nightmare. Either of those could form a mark on her pride, traumatizing her for the rest of her life.

"Miss Qing! Be careful!" Ning Fan shouted out loudly to put her on guard and quickly ran away with his bamboo basket!

Most of the teens were Second-Level Vein Opening Realm and Third-Level Vein Opening Realm cultivators. Only one boy in white robes who looked much more outstanding than the rest was at the Fourth-Level Vein Opening Realm. His name was Ning Feng. He was the disciple of the cultivator whom Ning Gu had offended. He was the one who would bully Ning Fan whenever he caught sight of him!

Usually, Ning Fan would never try to cross him. However, Ning Qinger helped him once in the past and he had yet to repay her kindness. As such, it was a must for him to help her in return.

When his voice echoed around the spring, Ning Qinger's expression changed and scanned through the surroundings. She immediately knew someone was taking a peek on her but she failed to identify the person who alerted her.

To Qinger, she did not know who Ning Fan was. In contrast, the teenagers knew Ning Fan very well, especially Ning Feng.

Luckily we didn't reveal our identities.

Ning Feng and his buddies moved stealthily away from the spring and ran towards the direction where Ning Fan went.

"Hmmph! It's Ning Fan again! How dare he disrupt our plan! Chase him and beat him to death!"

However, Ning Qinger had no idea about it.

…

They were currently in hot pursuit.

Dusk began to settle but the teens were still trying to catch up to Ning Fan.

In reality, everybody in the clan knew that Miss Qing had been peeped by a few perverts during her bath but no one knew about the hidden dispute between Ning Fan and Ning Feng.

Ning Feng's eyes were filled with killing intent. If he manages to catch Ning Fan, he would definitely kill him and then put the blame on the wolf king. With that excuse, no one would figure out that he was the murderer.

Just as they were just a few steps behind Ning Fan, he suddenly stopped. Unknowingly, they had followed him to a deserted area where no one would actually pass by.

Ning Fan turned himself around, facing the group of cunning teens who had clenched their fists and prepared to throw punches at him.

"Aren't you going to run?!" Ning Feng let out a wicked laughter.

"Not anymore. Because I've remember who I am."

"Who are you? An immortal? Hahaha"

"I am 'Ning Fan'… You all can die now!"

It was at this juncture when a huge black mist covered the entire area!

Before Ning Feng could react, he was already turned into minced meat!

"This is my dream realm and I am the younger me!" The 10-years-old young boy muttered to himself in an indifferent tone.

He had the physical body of a 10-year-old kid, but he never flinched when he killed someone!

<strong>Note:</strong>

^ 1. Lingzhi mushroom is used in traditional Chinese medicine for many years. It is very beneficial for health if consumed.

<strong>Translator Team:</strong>

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