Grasping Evil

In a flash, the four seasons of the year had gone through 10 cycles. The scenic view of his training ground was restored as the mountains and rivers that he destroyed returned to its original state.

Ning Fan meditated in his abode throughout the years to stabilize his new realm.

After stabilizing his Gold Core, he wanted to cultivate for more power! The next goal he aimed to achieve in the remaining 250 years was to form his Nascent Soul!

He held a Nascent Formation Pill in his hand and silently studied it.

The success rate of forming his Nascent Soul in his current state was less than 30%.

For most cultivators, forming Nascent Souls not only required tremendous magic power which was more than their current state could hold but also comprehending and mastering the 5 elements of heaven and earth.

It sure was not easy gaining such a large amount of magic power. However, comprehending and mastering the 5 elements was the most difficult part which might take cultivators hundreds of years.

In short, forming a Nascent Soul was way harder than forming Gold Core!

When Ning Fan successfully achieved the Gold Core Realm, his magic power increased drastically, from 23 units to 33 units.

Consuming the Min Luo Fruits also helped increase the realm of his mind. Nine of the fruits were equivalent to 450 years of cultivation. Currently, his state of mind was comparable to a Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm cultivator!

As his cultivation realm increased, his spirit sense had also improved, breaking through to the Mid Nascent Soul Realm! If he was able to achieve Nascent Formation, his spirit sense would eventually achieve the Late Nascent Soul Realm!

He could be considered to have fulfilled the first requirement to form his Nascent Soul. All he needed was the comprehension of the 5 elements.

Actually, the Nascent Soul was created from the primordial power of heaven and earth. The combination of the five elements was the source of the power!

When cultivators achieve Nascent Formation, they become able to use magic techniques of 5 different elements. Of course, their primary element would still depend on the original element of their immortal veins. The remaining four elements would all be supplementary.

The reason that dual-element cultivators were considered gifted was because they were left with only 3 elements to comprehend. Thus, they could fulfill the second requirement faster than the usual cultivator.

As for Ning Fan, he had unknowingly learned to use 4 elements when he was mastering his techniques. If he was still at the External Endless Sea, his current condition would definitely blow everyone's mind!

Fire element, ice element, lightning element and lastly, the wood element. I'm short of the earth element … I only need to master one element and then I can form my Nascent Soul!

He slapped his storage pouch and took out a scroll that emitted intense corpse qi – Corpse Devil Record.

He had already completed cultivating the Colossal Bone Secret Art. Therefore, he needed something to replace his Body Refining Technique. The best technique he had was the Corpse Devil Record! This was a devil technique that opens up the devil veins of the earth element within the cultivators. The veins would be used to absorb the corpse qi from the earth.

It should be enough to make up for what I'm lacking.

He needed to raise the realms of his cultivation methods again!

Other than the Yin Yang Transformation, all the techniques he possessed must achieve the fourth realm! By doing so, he would have 20% more assurance to form his Nascent Soul without fail!

Moreover, Ning Fan would still need to cultivate a type of secret art – Yin Evil Art!

He had obtained this secret art from Old Monster Purple Yin which he fought in Ning City. It was invented by an old ancestor of the Extreme Yin Sect. By cultivating this art, the cultivators would be able to congeal a Yin Pearl within their body. The pearl was a magic treasure that would fuse with the Gold Core of the cultivators, strengthening the power of the Gold Core. The stronger the Gold Core becomes, the higher chance the cultivators will have to successfully form their Nascent Souls.

In other words, Ning Fan would have 60% success rate of forming his Nascent Soul with the Yin Pearl!

"60%... If I consume the Nascent Formation Pill, I'll have 70% success rate… Furthermore, the quality of the pill I refined is better compared to others like it because of my Fifth Revolution pill refining technique. The pill should be more effective than usual… A 70% success rate is enough for me to try. Unfortunately, I don't have a Nascent Soul Realm Dao Fruit and I can't pluck the women in my Cauldron Ring. If only I have access to them, I would still be able to increase my magic power…"

*Sigh*

Suddenly, Ning Fan got a twinkle in his eyes.

"I think this is not the end of it! There's still another way to increase my magic power!"

With a wave of his sleeve, one of the twelve Earth Vein Demonic Flames and two different types of Heavenly Cold Qi appeared in front of him.

The flame was white and took the shape of a human skull. One of the cold qi had the shape of a pine leaf while the other one took the form of a human skeleton. They were the White Bone Flame, Pine Cold Essence and Bone Prison Qi!

If he successfully assimilate them, his magic power would definitely be magnified! That would give him another 20% success rate in achieving the Nascent Soul Realm!

"So I shall start with working on my cultivation methods and techniques. After that, I'll devour the Heavenly Cold Qi and the Earth Flame. Lastly, I'll swallow the Nascent Soul Pill and finally form my Nascent Soul!"

…

30 years flashed by. The Black Devil Spell, Snow Treading Art and Camellia Scripture reached the first level of the fourth realm. Right after that, he started practicing the Corpse Devil Record. The scroll actually recorded the method to open the corpse veins and also ways to enhance the power of the corpse vein cultivators. It was one of the Immemorial Devil Techniques. This technique was a thousand times harder than the Colossal Bone Secret Art which made it seem like it was impossible to learn for the common cultivator.

The cultivators of the technique must consume a few kinds of medicine that needed to be specially refined according to the record. Moreover, they needed to learn to control their qi and absorb the corpse qi from the corpses. So how do they get corpses? Needless to say, they must kill lots of people to accumulate the needed amount of corpse qi. If anyone who practices this record does not want to sacrifice others, the only way they can obtain corpse qi was through drawing in the power of the earth and turn it into corpse qi.

Now, Ning Fan would at least have to absorb the corpse qi from three lives to start off the cultivation of this technique.

To him, refining pills was not a problem. The only hindrance was that not a single corpse could be found in this vast area.

Therefore, Ning Fan had to bury himself deep in the ground and behave like a corpse by stopping his breathing. In that manner, he could borrow the pressure of the ground above him to temper the strength of his physical body while assimilating the power of the earth, converting them into corpse qi.

The process would be naturally slow. But he had no choice as this was the only way.

He gradually burrowed himself into the ground until he was now a thousand zhang* deep. The pressure was so immense that he felt like he would be crushed at any moment. He cleared his mind and calmed himself down.

After 40 years, he finally amassed enough corpse qi equivalent to one life. At the same time, the pressure on his body diminished as his body got stronger. So he went another thousand zhang* deeper.

30 years later, the corpse qi of the second life was fully absorbed! He deepened his position for another thousand zhang*.

On the 20th year of staying three thousand zhang* beneath the ground, he finally managed to accumulate the required amount of corpse qi! From within the ground, he blasted his way up to the surface!

He spent a total of 90 years to obtain the needed amount of corpse qi which he could normally get from 3 corpses. Without further delay, he returned to his abode and began his secluded meditation to complete the last step of the record's cultivation – assimilating the corpse qi!

He would only be considered successful if he successfully assimilate the corpse qi into his Yin Yang Devil Veins.

This time, his face was filled with nervousness. He was uncertain whether his Yin Yang Devil Veins can still accept other cultivation techniques…

This would be an experiment that can provide me the answer! He activated his Yin Yang Locket in his dantian and started the process!

That secluded meditation took him 10 entire years! In these ten years, he failed countless times but he persisted. In the end, the Yin Yang Locket accepted the corpse qi!

The Yin Yang Devil Veins forcefully allowed the corpse qi to flow within his body. After a while, the Yin Yang Devil Veins started to possess the attributes of the Corpse Devil Veins! Apart from that, it carried a trace of power of the earth element!

At long last, Ning Fan mastered the fifth element! He now fulfilled the second requirement!

In his mind, he was truly astonished by the core cultivation technique he practiced – Yin Yang Transformation!

Now, there were some information about the veins. Immemorial Immortal Veins was also known as Ancient Veins. Divine veins, demon veins and devil veins were the categories that fall under Ancient Veins. For those who possess the Ancient Veins regardless of category, their veins were categorized into three distinctive types!

Firstly, Elemental Veins!

Elemental cultivators possess these kinds of veins such as the Lightning Veins, Fire Veins, Water Veins and so on. They are extremely hard to deal with. If they achieve the peak of their cultivation realms, they could even transform their bodies into their respective elements, becoming one with the element they cultivate. In that form, they were immune to all physical and magical attacks! For instance, the person that the entire Rain Palace feared to the point of concealing every information about him, Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou, possess the Lightning Veins. The ability to transform himself into lightning made him invincible to any sword attacks and thus, enabled him to battle with three emperors of the Sword World at the same time! These cultivators focused a lot of their time cultivating their magic techniques.

Secondly, Body Veins!

The Body Veins cultivators would possess veins like Corpse Veins, Bone Veins, Sword Veins, Dragon Veins, Carp Veins, Phoenix Veins and so on. They prioritize on body refining cultivation. The abilities they have include turning themselves into ten thousand zhang* giants, having indestructible defense or shapeshifting into different kinds of creatures. Aside from that, they possess massive strength.

Thirdly, Unique Spiritual Veins!

These cultivators do not have potentials in cultivating magic techniques or body refining techniques. They are deemed to have the weakest combat power among the three! However, these veins were created for a unique purpose. In other words, they were invented to deal with specific groups of cultivators. Ning Fan's Yin Yang Devil Veins was one of these veins. It does not give Ning Fan a powerful magic technique but it grants Ning Fan the ability to restrain almost every woman in the world. Another example is the Undying Veins. The person who possess it is virtually unkillable! No matter how the person is beaten, cut or burnt, the person would not die! Even if the person is turned into ashes, he or she would still revive after some time! Unfortunately, this type of veins does not come with a powerful offensive technique. However, no one, including the True Immortals, would want to offend an Undying Veins cultivator. The only way to deal with cultivators with this kind of veins is to either seal them or lock the person up…

There was one more example for this type of veins, the devil veins of Emperor Moksha – Nirvana Veins! It had a bizarre but strong ability which allowed the cultivator to power up by taking damage. The more serious the injuries, the greater power the cultivator obtains! As long as the cultivator is not killed, his power would increase after the cultivator recovers from the injuries.

In the previous battle with Emperor Moksha, Ning Fan managed to hurt him… If Emperor Moksha recovers from the injury, his power would become far greater!

He did not get this inheritance from the Old Devil… No one knew for sure. Maybe it was the reason why he betrayed the Old Devil.

As for the cultivation method of Unique Spiritual Veins, the Yin Yang Transformation, too, could not perform any great offensive or defensive skills. However, it had two profound attributes.

One of them is plucking, which was already widely known among True Immortals.

Secondly, it is able to absorb the power of the other Ancient Veins and turn them into something the cultivator of this veins use! Not many people know about this unique attribute. Even Luo You found out about it by accident.

In the past, Ning Fan eliminated the Corpse Devil and stole his cultivation method. Now he was able to open up the Corpse Veins!

That is to say, if Ning Fan kills Emperor Moksha, he'll able to steal his cultivation method and open up the Nirvana Veins!

In the past, there were other people who inherited the Yin Yang Transformation too. But their abilities were only limited to plucking and practicing dual cultivation. To be able to absorb the power of other Ancient Veins, one must have the Yin Yang Locket. Without the locket, the cultivators of Yin Yang Transformation were regarded as fake descendants of the cultivation method.

Fortunately, Ning Fan owns the locket… He was the genuine successor of the cultivation method.

The reason why the little devilish girl in the Godly Void Pavilion looked highly on Ning Fan was because she was unaware of the power of absorption his cultivation method had.

As for Bei Xiaoman, she could not even discover the type of veins that Ning Fan possessed because she did not have a high cultivation realm which caused her sense to be blocked by the All-Heaven Relic.

After fusing the power of the Corpse Veins with the Yin Yang Devil Veins, he had met the threshold to cultivate the Corpse Devil Record, starting with the first level of the first realm. Once he get out of the tower, he would find corpses to raise the level of the cultivation technique to unlock the ability of the corpse veins. But his utmost priority now was to form his Nascent Soul!

He recalibrated his thoughts while sitting down, cross-legged. He had been staying within the tower for 130 years already. In his stay, he wasted not even a single second. Now, he finally achieved the required levels for his cultivation techniques and comprehended the five elements of heaven and earth.

He still had 120 years left before he has to leave the tower.

It's time to start devouring the Heavenly Cold Qi and the Earth Flame!

As a matter of fact, the best time to absorb the power of the Fifth Grade Cold Qi and Spiritual Flame would be after achieving the Divine Transformation Realm. Without the Yin Yang Locket, anyone who tries to devour them below that realm would most likely fail. Even if they succeeded, they would not be able to absorb the full power of the items.

When Ning Fan devoured the Black Devil Flame in the past, he was still just a Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivator. Because of the limitation of his cultivation realm, he was only able to absorb one thousandth of its power. The remaining power the flame possessed then dispersed into the surroundings.

However, things would be different now since he was already at the Peak Gold Core Realm! His current cultivation realm allowed him to take in one twentieth of the total power of the items. In other words, by devouring the two types of Heavenly Cold Qi and an Earth Vein Demonic Flame, he would be able to increase 20 units of his total magic power.

He was blessed with great luck to own a precious artifact such as the Yin Yang Locket. For other cultivators who were at the same realm at him, they might not even have the slightest capability of gaining power from the items.

Besides, the training ground consisted of volcanic mountains and also a land of ice which met the conditions to refine the items.

Once he completes the process, his magic power would become 93 units in total! Forming a Nascent Soul by then would no longer be difficult anymore!

"Nascent Formation! Here I come!" He muttered in a firm tone and his eyes shone with determination.

…

Outside the Lost World Palace, ten years had passed by.

Ten years were only a short period of time for cultivators as secluded meditations always took a much longer time than that.

Within one of the inns in Xuan Wu City, there was a red-haired elderly cultivator sitting cross-legged in his room. His body had visible injuries, staining his clothes with blood. His face stiffened while his eyes blazed in anger!

Two months ago, he left from the third floor of the Lost World Palace after he successfully broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Yes, he was Jing Zhuo!

That year, Ning Fan parted with him at the Heaven Evading Ship to save Yin Suqiu. He, alone, arrived at Peng Lai Immortal Island first. Before he entered into the Lost World Tower, he hired a Harmonious Spirit Realm junior to be his messenger. Jing Zhuo wanted the messenger to pass a message to a person called 'Zhou Ming' that he had already entered the tower so that Zhou Ming would not be worried about him.

Jing Zhuo had complete faith that Ning Fan would come because the latter was talented and skillful. Even if Ning Fan could not save Yin Suqiu, he would be able to protect himself. The only concern he had was how to console Ning Fan if Suqiu was really dead…

He then entered the tower thinking that the Harmonious Spirit Realm junior would remain loyal to him and faithfully execute his orders.

During his secluded meditation in the Lost World Tower, two unexpected events occurred that he was not aware of!

Firstly, he didn't know that Ning Fan, who had gone all-out to save Suqiu, offended one of the most powerful forces of the Internal Endless Sea.

Secondly, he did not expect that the messenger that he hired would not even pass his message to Ning Fan. Instead, he imprinted Zhou Ming's appearance on a jade slip and sold it to others, betraying Jing Zhuo.

It was all because of the powerful force Ning Fan offended - Demon Sealing Sect. It was from one of the seventy-two islands of the Internal Endless Sea!

The seventh elder of the sect, Eagle Crane Elder, who was a Late Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, set a bounty on Zhou Ming's head. He was searching everywhere for his traces!

He even announced to the cultivators in the islands about the person he wanted to find, providing them Zhou Ming's name and appearance. The reward for capturing Zhou Ming was 100000 immortal jade.

When the Harmonious Spirit Realm messenger noticed that the wanted person was exactly the person whom Jing Zhuo was looking for, he could not resist the temptation of the bounty, thus selling the information to the Eagle Crane Elder.

Ten years later, he ended his secluded meditation. Just as he left the tower, he was informed by his messenger that Zhou Ming did not appear at all in the Lost World Palace.

Jing Zhuo who was still unaware that his messenger had betrayed him let out a long sigh… He mournfully mumbled to himself, "Nothing in this world is everlasting. Even talented people like Suqiu and Ning Fan could not escape their unfortunate fate in this unfamiliar sea. It's really a pity to lose them."

He decided to return to Yuen Country and improve the country to a Mid-Grade Cultivation Country using his identity as a Nascent Soul Realm expert!

However, before he could leave Peng Lai Immortal Island, he was ambushed by someone outside its vicinity! That 'someone' was a Late Nascent Soul Realm expert and he attacked Jing Zhuo without any reason!

Even though Jing Zhuo was already a Nascent Soul Realm expert, he did not have any chance to counterattack! At a critical moment, he quickly revealed a trace of his Green Phoenix Flame which managed to suppress the attacker, creating an opportunity for him to flee.

…

Outside the island, the Eagle Crane Elder's face was filled with gloom. He delivered a slap on the Harmonious Spirit Realm messenger, fatal enough to kill him.

"Hmmph! This Harmonious Spirit Realm ant almost brought trouble to me! That Jing Zhuo possessed the 'lesser flame' of the Green Phoenix Flame. Don't tell me that he has relations to the Lost World Palace! The Lost World Palace is said to possess the 'greater flame' of the Green Phoenix Flame… Hehe. However, so what if he really is a member of the Lost World Palace… I've already planted the Grey Demon Seal on his body. There's no way he can escape!"

"I have one thing that requires your help, seventh elder! After we capture this person and lure Zhou Ming out from hiding, please allow me to kill him!" The first elder brother spoke in a confident manner as if Zhou Ming was just a weak, feeble ant. Ten years ago, he was an Early Nascent Soul Realm cultivator who was a hair's breadth away from advancing into the Mid Nascent Soul Realm. Now, he successfully made an advancement in his cultivation realm! In his mind, he thought that he alone was enough to kill Zhou Ming!

After 10 years, he still remembered the pain of the Immortal Execution Order which was casted by Zhou Ming. He vowed to himself that he would definitely repay him 100 times of the pain he had suffered!

"Good! Once we have him, he will all be yours! First things first, we need to take care of this Jing Zhuo… Let's wait until he recovers. When he leaves thousands of li away from Peng Lai Immortal Island, I'll capture him alive and search his soul and memories to find Zhou Ming's whereabouts!"

A grimace distorted Eagle Crane Elder's face. He did not even put Zhou Ming into his eyes.

Even if Zhou Ming fully recovered from the near-death injuries he suffered 10 years ago!

…

Jing Zhuo's clothes was drenched in sweat as he tried to withstand the pain of his wounds when he was treating them.

All of a sudden, a sharp pain could be felt in his mind. His focus was diverted from his wounds, trying to sense the presence of a sudden intruder in his room.

Before he could do anything else,, a Nascent Soul Realm expert appeared behind him!

How did this person get past the Nascent Soul Realm defensive formation of the inn?!

Furthermore, this expert might be an Early Nascent Soul Realm expert on the surface but I can sense that his magic power almost touched the border of the Mid Nascent Soul Realm!

Jing Zhuo felt a massive threat from the presence of this person. He was even more dangerous than the Eagle Crane Elder!

What made him feel it hard to believe was that the person who intruded his room was not a living person. The way he travelled without inhaling a single breath was similar to a refined corpse!

It was his first time meeting such a mysteriously powerful expert in his entire life!

Don't tell me that this person is on the same side of the Late Nascent Soul Realm expert that ambushed me earlier?

"Who are you?!" Jing Zhuo shouted coldly. A surge of primordial power circulated in his body. He placed his tongue between his teeth, preparing to sacrifice some of his blood essence to boost his power for teleportation.

A millisecond later, he felt his entire body freezing still together with the space around him!

"Freeze!"

The mysterious man lifted his index finger which was flickering with grey light, pointing at Jing Zhuo's position. Countless invisible threads came out from nowhere and bounded Jing Zhuo's four limbs, restricting him from making any movements!

The grey light on his finger was like a mixture of flame and ice!

Jing Zhuo was unable to move his body, let alone struggle to free himself!

A Body Sealing Technique casted with just a single finger!

His widened eyes were now filled with astonishment. He had no idea at all about the technique he had just witnessed and experienced.

His power is unfathomable!

Thinking that he was already in a hopeless situation, he tried to detonate himself in order to threaten the person and escape. Suddenly, the invisible strings vanished and his limbs were freed from their binds.

"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Jing. It's me…"

"It's you? What do you mean by 'it's you'? Who are you?"

Jing Zhuo was bewildered by this person's words.

Do I know this person? I don't seem to know such a powerful expert in the past.

His expression hardened when he turned around and caught sight of the person's appearance. He was literally petrified by his presence.

"Ning… Fellow Daoist Ning?! How come it's you?!"

"Am I not welcomed here?" A wry smile formed on his face. Jing Zhuo's primordial power was in disarray when Ning Fan stood before him. This would only happen whenever an Early Nascent Soul Realm expert was facing a Late Nascent Soul Realm expert. But… Ning Fan was also able to do it!

"I thought you were just going to form your Gold Core… How did you form your Nascent Soul too?! Moreover, this magic power… If I'm not mistaken, you are close to achieving the Mid Nascent Soul Realm! What have you exactly done for the past 10 years?! You just turned into a Nascent Soul Realm expert from just a Half-Step Gold Core Realm cultivator!"

Jing Zhuo ran through a thorough observation on Ning Fan and discovered that Ning Fan's bone age increased by 320 years!

He is no longer a 20-year-old young man but a 340-year-old cultivator. Now, he is genuinely an old monster!

He grew 320 years in just 10 years in the real world… It's 32 times faster than the time in the real world. Did he enter the fifth floor of the Lost World Tower?

According to the rules, only Divine Transformation Realm cultivators can enter the fifth floor. There's no exceptions for that. Obviously, Ning Fan was not at that realm. In other words, he was a Fifth Revolution Pill Master?!

Fifth Revolution… This… This is impossible! I thought he was just a Fourth Revolution Pill Master! Since when did he level up his pill refining techniques?!

"You… *Cough*" Jing Zhuo had too many questions running through his mind. However, just as he opened his mouth to speak, the internal injuries were aggravated, causing him to cough up blood.

"You are injured? This is…"

Ning Fan spread his spirit sense to examine Jing Zhuo's blood. When he had the results, his expression turned serious. He placed his finger on Jing Zhuo's body and forced out a trace of grey qi from within!

Eventually, he extinguished the qi with his power!

This grey qi is one of the techniques of the Demon Sealing Sect that is used to track down its enemies!

From the magic power in the qi, the caster seems to be a Late Nascent Soul Realm expert!

"Demon Sealing Sect!"

Ning Fan's eyes flashed with murderous intent…

The cultivators from the Demon Sealing Sect really are disturbing flies. The only way to deal with them is to send them all to hell.

It should not be difficult to fight against a Late Nascent Soul Realm expert.

The indifferent look in his eyes only belonged to those who had great strength and power.

After achieving Early Nascent Soul Realm, his spirit sense reached Late Nascent Soul Realm. Not only did he gain more power, but he also gained access to more techniques and magical treasures that he could use.

For techniques, he could transform into a hundred zhang tall giant, perform Body Sealing with just a single finger, activate blood-red lightning rays, Three Swords of Nascent Soul and perform Grey Teleportation.

For magical treasures, he could now use the Supreme Grade Magical Treasures and his new Immemorial Divine Weapon – Lightning Whip.

He was no longer the same 'Ning Fan' from 320 years ago!

<strong>Note:</strong>

1. Heavenly Cold Qi fifth grade cold qi and Earth Vein Demonic Flames are fifth grade spiritual flames

<strong>Translator Team:</strong>

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