Grasping Evil

Ning Fan followed Yao Yuan to the Northern Desert City to register his battle points for killing the small demons and then returned to Lu Bei's residence.

Demon Soldiers had their own respective residences while the small demons could only stay within military camps. Although Lu Bei's reputation was already tarnished in the Northern Desert City, he still had a home there.

In his bedroom, Ning Fan sat in a meditation position on the couch. His eyes coldly glanced through the plate that recorded his battle points and gently shook his head.

He obtained a total of 368 points after killing 71 demons of the Lie Tu Tribe. A demon at the Early Gold Core Realm was worth 5 points. A demon at the Mid Gold Core Realm was worth 10 points. It was 15 points for a Late Gold Core Realm demon while 20 points for a Peak Gold Core Realm expert. All demons below the Gold Core Realm was only worth 1 point each. Apparently, the battle points were rewarded based on the number of magic power units of the respective cultivation levels.

However, after adding up the 368 points he had just earned, the total battle points that Lu Bei had amounted to a total of 9742 points. What a pitiful result.

That person might have cultivated the demon path for more than a thousand years but his level was weaker than he seems…

The battle points could be used to exchange for immortal jade. The exchange rate was approximately 100 immortal jade for a single point.

Aside from that, they could also be used to exchange for scriptures from the Demon Tower to read, a chance for Bloodline Awakening, a Demon Egg to cultivate and many other benefits. They were all unable to be bought using immortal jade.

Among the scriptures in the Demon Tower, there were not only the manuals for demonic techniques but also the guidebook for learning the ancient demon written language…

Regarding the Demon Egg cultivation, it would not just enable the cultivator to reverse time but also increase the absorption speed of demon power.

Bloodline Awakening huh…

Ning Fan's eyes brightened up in enthusiasm. The Bloodline Awakening aroused his interest.

Lu Bei was a winged demon and Ning Fan, too, was considered a winged demon as he had the same kind of bloodline. What was a winged demon? Amongst all the creatures with feathers and wings in the world, those which cultivated the demon path and achieved the First Bloodline Awakening would then become winged demons.

However, the bloodline of a winged demon was too common. When they break through to the Nascent Soul Realm, they would have to complete the Second Bloodline Awakening which would in turn decide the demon race that they truly belong to.

As a matter of fact, the winged demons could evolve into more powerful flying creatures like those in the sparrow race and the eagle race. Occasionally, some of them might obtain the bloodline of avian humanoids, which was a rather unpopular bloodline. If they were lucky enough, their bloodlines might evolve into Incomplete Immemorial Demon Bloodlines, making them into demons with extraordinary latent potential which stands above the rest. If their Incomplete Immemorial Demon Bloodlines were able to evolve into true Immemorial Demon Veins in the Third Bloodline Awakening after attaining the Divine Transformation Realm, even the members of the Immemorial Demon Races would offer them an olive branch and recruit them into their group.

In the past when Li Ban awakened from slumber, he did not immediately accomplish his mission. Conversely, he stayed in Great Jin for his Third Bloodline Awakening. As a result, he succeeded. He did not only complete the Dragon Transformation which allowed him to transform into a dragon as his second avatar, but also turned his Carp Bloodline, which was an Incomplete Immemorial Demon Bloodline into the Thunder Dragon Bloodline, which was a true Immemorial Demon Bloodline.

Even though his Dragon Bloodline was extremely thin, he was already qualified to join the Immemorial Dragon Race.

Lu Bei, however, did not have a superior natural talent. Without the ten traces of Demon Marshal's blood inherited from his ancestor, it would have been impossible for him to attain the Nascent Soul Realm. Therefore, it was not strange at all for him to fail in achieving the Second Bloodline Awakening.

As for Ning Fan, it was all thanks to Luo You's persuasion that he was able to cultivate the demon cultivation methods. With her help, he managed to awaken the bloodline of a winged demon that was hidden deep within his body. However, he was completely clueless about the method to achieve the Second Bloodline Awakening even though his demon power had attained the Early Nascent Soul Realm.

Therefore, he was in the same situation as Lu Bei. Their winged demon bloodlines were stuck after the First Awakening.

Sadly, the devil lord Ning whose combat power was enough to kill ordinary Divine Transformation Realm experts was almost at the bottom among all the seven hundred Demon Soldiers of the Luo Yun Tribe in terms of natural potential for demon bloodline.

"Bloodline Awakening… I really have no idea about that. I wonder to what extent my demon bloodline could evolve if I have sufficient battle points!"

The evolution of the demon bloodline was quite important to demons. The type of bloodline would later decide the Demon Intent that they would congeal after attaining the Divine Transformation Realm.

For Ning Fan, he already had the Divine Intent of Rain and the Devil Intent of Evil Luo Mountain. What would his Demon Intent be?

The ancient demon written language, the awakening of his bloodline and the sleeping Demon Marshal… This place indeed lay a great fortune for Ning Fan!

"Breaking through to the Divine Transformation Realm is difficult. Even if I obtain the Profound Heart of Mother Earth, the success rate will only increase by 10 percent. However, if my magic power, demon power and devil qi has 10000 units, I will, at the very least, have a 70% chance of successfully advancing into that cultivation realm. When the time comes, the Profound Heart of Mother Earth will truly be helpful as it can increase the chances of success to 80%. If I consume the Separation and Reunion Pill too, I will then have 90% chance of attaining the Divine Transformation Realm. If I take the two types of Divine Intent which I've congealed into consideration…it wouldn't be long before I finally achieve that cultivation realm!"

The awakening of demon bloodline had to be conducted in the Bloodline Pool of the demon race which was worshipped by the demons. Not to mention if Ning Fan was able to achieve the Second Awakening in just a single attempt, entering the Bloodline Pool would cost one hundred thousand battle points for every attempt…

This time, Lu Bei might have performed a meritorious service when he returned. But as an Early Nascent Soul Realm Demon Soldier, disobeying the military command and leaving the tribe without permission was a serious offence. It was that meritorious service which offset his crime.

For now, unless Lu Bei broke through to the Mid Nascent Soul Realm, he would not be qualified to lead the troops to attack the enemy.

As such, everything went back to the basics – increasing his demon power.

The blood of the Demon Marshal couldn't be assimilated at the moment. However, if Ning Fan absorbs all 1284 drops of Fake Wild Beast's blood and 1084 demon pills, he would be able to obtain 2000 units of demon power. Relying on the level of his demon power, he would then truly advance into the Peak Nascent Soul Realm!

With that cultivation level, he might even be promoted to become a high-ranking commander. A portion of the battle points for every enemy that his troops kill would then belong to him.

Perhaps all it takes for him to accumulate 100000 battle points would be a medium-sized war.

As soon as he made up his mind, he immediately established a Sense Blocking Formation around his room and took out the demon pills and demon blood for consumption.

With his current level, he did not need any pills or spiritual grass to balance out the demon power from the demon pills and demon blood.

This time, the secluded meditation he entered lasted for an entire month. Throughout the month, Ning Fan was only confined to his room. But his aura rose bit by bit!

His demon power gradually increased to 67 units.

68 units, 69 units…99 units!

When his demon power reached 100 units, it was now on the verge of breaking through to the Mid Nascent Soul Realm. However, to his surprise, when the demon power increased to 101 units, his cultivation realm for his demon power remained at the Early Nascent Soul Realm!

"Hmm? What happened?"

He opened his eyes and his mind was full of doubts. But he then shut his eyes and continued to refine himself with the demon blood and pills.

100 units, 101 units…299 units!

When he attained 300 units of demon power, it was supposed to be the time where his demon power cultivation level would advance to the Late Nascent Soul Realm. However, it still remained unchanged!

This time, he seemed to have understood something. He opened his solemn eyes and stared silently at a corner of the room. After that, he resumed the assimilation process.

301 units, 302 units…1499 units!

The moment when he gathered a total of 1500 units of demon power, his demon power cultivation level should've broke through the bottleneck of the Peak Nascent Soul Realm. On the contrary, his demon power still remained at the Early Nascent Soul Realm!

This time, Ning Fan did not stop. He only knitted his brows as he was not calm internally.

1501 units, 1502 units… He continued all the way up to 2150 units before he rested.

Originally, the demon pills and demon blood should be able to increase his demon power by 2368 units. However, due to excessive consumption of demon blood, the effect gradually diminished.

2150 units of demon power!

When Ning Fan opened his eyes again, an immense demon power flowed within his body. If he unleashes it, the vicinity within a thousand li* would certainly be flattened!

Knowing the destruction that he might cause, he forcefully suppressed his demon aura which was now comparable to that of a Peak Nascent Soul Realm expert.

After that, he immediately studied the immortal veins within his body. Their colors changed from time to time, showing the uncertain cultivation realm for his demon power.

"Unexpectedly, the reason why my demon cultivation level is unable to improve despite the large increase in my demon power is because of my demon bloodline…"

He now realized that the factor that hindered his advancement to higher demon cultivation levels was his demon bloodline.

At first, he was merely interested about the awakening of the demon bloodline.

Currently, he found out that if his demon bloodline could not achieve the Second Awakening, his demon cultivation level would forever be stuck at the Early Nascent Soul Realm regardless of how strong his demon power might be!

In other words, even if he obtains the Demon Marshal's blood and increase his demon power to 10000 units, he would still be unable to attain the Divine Transformation Realm!

"Troublesome. It really is not as simple as it looks. I guess I will have to gather 100000 battle points and achieve the Second Bloodline Awakening…"

He shook his head and let out a faint sigh.

Suddenly, light footsteps of a young girl could be heard from outside the door. It was the forty-seventh time she came.

During the month when Ning Fan was in secluded meditation, this girl had come to his doorstep forty-six times. However, there was not even a single time, including this, that she dared to knock at the door and enter his room, as if she was afraid to interrupt him in his cultivation.

The crease on Ning Fan's forehead faded. He deactivated the Sense Blocking Formation and with a flick of his sleeve, the door of the room opened by itself. At the doorstep stood a teenage girl who was approximately 10 years old holding a copper basin and a towel. Her scrawny body made her look like she had been suffering from malnutrition for days. As the door opened without warning, she got the shock of her life, causing her to lose grip of the copper basin.

*Clink Clank*

Her face turned pale as if all blood was drained from it. She immediately knelt down, begging for pardon with a shivering tone.

"Lo…Lord… Ple…Please for…forgive me… Xi...Xiao Huan di…didn't d…do it on pur…purpose…"

She was the new maidservant whom Lu Bei kept to replace the previous maidservant who died. However, she was only ten years old. She would only be officially kept by Lu Bei after she reaches the age of 14.

In Lu Bei's memories, this girl had speech disorder. The more nervous she gets, the more severe she stutters.

The root cause of her speech defect seemed to be because of her impure demon bloodline.

As for the reason why she took the form of a human, it was because she once accidentally consumed the Transformation Grass…

Anyway, this girl's appearance was rather innocent. Despite her current age, if she grows up for a few more years, she would certainly be a young lady with remarkable beauty. Lu Bei indeed had a good eye for women.

Pitifully, before Lu Bei could wait for her to grow up, he was killed by Ning Fan. Now, this girl would belong to Ning Fan.

The young girl was terrified, extremely terrified…

Her sole intention was to bring water for her master to freshen himself up. To her horror, she carelessly overturned the copper basin. In her mind, it was a terrible mistake which might anger her master and get herself mercilessly punished or even killed by him.

As a matter of fact, prior to her arrival, there were already 15 maidservants who were killed by Lu Bei due to all kinds of mistakes. For instance, the taste of the tea was too plain, the tea was too warm, the smile on the servant's face was not sweet enough…

Especially when Lu Bei was in a bad mood, he would take the lives of more innocent people. There were even times when he blamed his servants for the changes of the weather and once they became his target, none of them could escape death.

Lu Bei might be a useless demon who was not even worth mentioning among the seven hundred Demon Soldiers of the Luo Yun Tribe, but he was still a being who managed to achieve the Nascent Soul Realm amongst hundreds of thousands of small demons in his tribe. In the eyes of the small demons, he was a respectable being that must never be underestimated.

At the split second when the door opened, the little maidservant was able to notice that her master's eyebrows were tightly knitted. In her thoughts, her master should be contemplating a worrisome matter… Since she had made a mistake at a time like this, how could it be possible for her to stay alive…

"Spa…Spare…Spare m…"

Her nervousness overwhelmed her, making it difficult for her to even say "spare me".

"Get up. It's fine. Don't worry. I am not going to punish you, so you don't have to be anxious…"

Ning Fan's lips curved into a heart-warming smile. Although he killed people like cutting down hemps, he would never lay a finger on mortals.

This girl might have a heterogeneous demon bloodline, but she did not have any cultivation. Therefore, she was considered a mortal.

When Ning Fan was still a mortal, he thought that war only concerned the military. In war, no matter how many a soldier kills, it was still excusable to do so. The innocent people, however, should not be involved in the massacres committed by the troops.

After becoming a cultivator, he thought that cultivation was a matter which only concerned cultivators. Along the path of attaining higher cultivation level, he had no choice but to kill others for limited resources. However, mortals should not be included in the cultivation world. They had nothing to do with cultivation…

Ever since the beginning of his cultivation journey, he never considered himself as a good person. But no matter how many crimes he committed or how notorious his reputation became, he would still uphold that principle.

Other than considering her as a mortal, he felt an unexplainable sense of familiarity from the little girl which made him be unwilling to kill her.

He stood up and made a step forward. In the next moment, he appeared in front of the girl like a gust of refreshing breeze. He squatted down and tried to help her get to her feet.

"You don't have to be afraid…" Ning Fan shot her a faint smile.

The girl was in a daze. Her mind was only filled with one single thought - since when did her atrocious master become such a gentle being…

As soon as his hands grasped her thin arm, a drastic change occurred in his eyes.

Now, he finally understood the reason why the little girl felt so familiar to him.

It was because this little girl was…one of the three souls of the female corpse!

"The soul of Weiliang? Why would it be at the Land of Slumber of the demon race?"

Although her first soul was located at the Demon Sinister Forest, it was still justifiable as the forest was connected to the Ancient Heavenly Court.

However, it was beyond the realm of possibility for her soul to come here from the Ancient Heavenly Court!

I actually met Weiliang's second soul in this place.

Deep inside, Ning Fan felt that it was as if someone in the unseen world purposely placed one of Weiliang's souls at this place, waiting for his arrival…

"This is more than just a coincidence…"

Seriousness gleamed within his eyes. Suddenly, he recalled the advice that Old Ancestor Dong Xu had given him back in the auction.

My lifespan is strange, as if someone has altered it before…

Could it be someone is plotting against me?!

Who is it?! What's his intention?!

As his expression changed, he let loose of the control of his aura, releasing it from his body. The small girl was immediately frightened to the core and tears began to well up in her eyes.

"I…I…I…"

She wanted to say "I'm sorry" but nervousness took control of her ability to speak.

This little stammering girl…

Ning Fan pulled himself out of his contemplation and his eyes gradually softened.

"Plotting against me huh… Interesting. I wonder to what extent that you, mysterious person, could plot against me!"

His gaze lingered on the malnourished girl whose height was only at his chest and caressed her head.

"Are you hungry?"

"No…No…I…am…." She was in fear and trepidation.

"Are you really not hungry or you just don't dare to admit it…" Ning Fan beamed. Without hesitation, he pulled her into his arms and vanished in a gust of demon wind. In a flash, they emerged outside the most extravagant restaurant of the Northern Desert City.

There were a total of ten floors within the restaurant. Only demons at the Gold Core Realm and above were permitted to enter. The Early Nascent Soul Realm demons could enter up to the fifth floor of the restaurant. The Mid Nascent Soul Realm demons could enter a higher level than the Early Nascent Soul Realm demons. The Late Nascent Soul were able to access up to the seventh floor while the Peak Nascent Soul Realm could enter the eighth floor. The ninth floor was meant for the Divine Transformation Realm demons and in the tenth floor was the special seats of the old ancestor figures of the Luo Yun Tribe!

This restaurant was opened by Lu Sheng, who was one of the seven generals of the Luo Yun Tribe. He was the guardian of the Northern Desert City.

Ning Fan knew that she was hungry because she was a mortal being.

Therefore, he had no hesitation at all to decide to bring her out to have a meal.

However, there was a knot in his heart that could not be untied regarding that little girl. She was undoubtedly a part of the female corpse's soul. If he fuses her into the female corpse, the latter would certainly recover a great portion of her spiritual intelligence.

But taking out the little girl's soul and putting it back to its original place was equivalent to taking her life…

He was hesitating whether or not to kill this innocent young girl to restore the female corpse's mental state…

If this situation was intentionally set up by that mysterious person, what would be his ulterior motive?

Apparently, that person is waiting for me to kill this young lady and recover the female corpse's intelligence…

"I can't act according to what that person wishes… But this is Weilinag's soul…"

Ning Fan's eyes were filled with doubts but he maintained a smile on his face.

If I kill her, my Heart of Dao would then be crushed.

If I don't kill her, Weilinag would never be fully revived.

Besides, if I kill her, I might even fall into that person's trap… A person who could make such accurate predictions of my moves… Hmm… Could that mysterious person be a True Immortal?

"Weiliang, I wonder what would you do if you were in my position…"

Suppressing his thoughts, Ning Fan made his way to the restaurant together with the little girl.

Before they could set foot on the restaurant, two armed guards immediately approached them to stop them from coming in.

"All floors below the fifth had been reserved by our master, Young Master Hao Chen, to entertain important guests. For any unrelated person, get lost!"

"Interesting. Do I need to look at the faces of mere Gold Core Realm ants like you when I bring my wife out for a meal? Crush!"

Just as his words fell, a tremendous Violent Qi surged within his body. With just his Violent Qi, the two Gold Core Realm guards had their demon cores broken, causing their cultivation levels to regress into the Harmonious Spirit Realm!

The two of them spurted out mouthfuls of blood and collapsed to the ground. Their eyes were filled with astonishment.

Who is this man?! He crushed our demon cores with just his Violent Qi?!

The young girl was terrified by the scene before her. Perhaps she was too small to see someone spurting out fresh blood in front of her.

"Don't be afraid… When I'm here, no one can hurt you!"

"Mm-hmm." She nodded, feeling that her master seemed to be quite different today than in the past. He was just too good to her…

To treat her to a meal, he even dared to cause a scene in front of the most luxurious restaurant of the Northern Desert City…

Internally, she was of course touched by his actions. Even so, she still had a shred of fear within her heart. After all, her master was known for his notoriety.

Is he sincerely kind towards me or does he harbor some other intentions?

Unknowingly, she was already brought to the fifth floor of the restaurant.

As soon as they arrived at the fifth floor, a strong spirit sense which was as sharp as a needle instantly rushed towards his direction. It carried the full attack of an Early Nascent Soul Realm being.

"I am Young Master Hao Chen. Do you really think a mere ordinary Demon Soldier like you can hurt my subordinates?!"

"Crush!"

Ning Fan uttered that single word. A surge of Violent Qi which emanated red light blasted at the incoming spirit sense.

In a split second, the young man who initiated the attack was filled with surprise. His spirit sense was damaged, causing him to cough out blood while retreating backwards. He was already in a grievous state!

"It's you! Lu Bei! How is it possible?!"

When the young man took a good look on Ning Fan's appearance, his eyes widened in disbelief.

<strong>Note:</strong>

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<strong>Translator Team:</strong>

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