Grasping Evil

Lu Wan'er awakened after sleeping for a month.

As soon as she woke up, she was stunned by a pair of Fire Phoenix's wings which was gifted by Ning Fan.

"This pair of wings are the best ingredients in making a Divine Transformation Realm flying spiritual equipment. How did you get them?!"

"By killing someone."

"I don't believe you… These are the wings of a Divine Transformation Realm demon… Are you trying to tell me that you've killed a Wild Beast and sheared its wings? Or have assassinated a Demon General of the other tribes and obtained them? Lu Bei, please be serious a little, stop joking around!"

A childish pout appeared on Lu Wan'er's face.

From her perspective, this pair of Fire Phoenix's wings were probably acquired using some unlawful means, just like the dragon tendon of the Immemorial Thunder Dragon.

No matter what, Lu Wan'er couldn't not believe that Ning Fan had killed a Demon General in the past one month.

After all, it was really something unimaginable…

"Fine. If you don't want to tell me, then just let it be… The reason why you're giving me this pair of wings is because you want me to create a flying spiritual equipment for you, isn't it? With this pair of wings as ingredients, I assure you I can forge a pair of High Grade Spiritual Severing Realm Fire Wings which will enable a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator to use Instant Shift… As for a Divine Transformation Realm cultivator, the speed of his or her traverse technique would improve by 30%!"

In her mind, she had made a decision to make a spiritual equipment using this pair of phoenix's wings.

But her intention was seen through by Ning Fan. Smilingly, he caressed her face with his hand.

"You don't have to make a flying spiritual equipment for me. I already have the demon wings of Fu Li. I no longer need a flying spiritual equipment to aid me in traversing…After you finish forging it, you stay here and I'll help you to refine it! In that case, even though your cultivation level is only at the Mid Nascent Soul Realm, if you want to flee, not even Divine Transformation Realm Demon Generals would be able to catch up with you. It will keep you safe…"

"You want to give such precious items to me as a present?!" Lu Wan'er lowered her head in shyness, allowing Ning Fan to caress her face without resisting.

"Mm. They're yours now. Go on and take a little more rest. Yao Yuan said we will arrive at the province in another three days…"

Lu Wan'er lied down on the bed once more whereas Ning Fan sat alone in a corner of the room.

Throughout the entire month, his mind was comprehending his gains from the battle with the three Demon Generals.

Demonic techniques and the use of bloodline manifestation… Among the three of them, other than Xu Ri whose combat power was almost on par with Yan Zhongze, the other two were relatively weaker.

However, the way they displayed their demonic techniques without any restraints at the point of desperately defending their lives seemed to have opened up a door of enlightenment to Ning Fan.

Demon…demonic techniques…spiritual equipments…

The understanding he had towards the demon race had become wider and deeper.

He might have given the phoenix's wings to Lu Wan'er as a gift, but it was not necessarily correct that he did not obtain anything at all. From Xu Ri's storage pouch, he actually got a jade slip.

Furthermore, from the wings of Xu Ri, he had discovered a half but damaged Spirit Seal on it.

Apparently, Xu Ri had done a silly act the moment he awakened a half-drop Fire Phoenix's bloodline during his Third Bloodline Awakening – engraving a Spirit Seal on his wings!

But in the end, he failed.

"Demon wings aren't spiritual equipment…Only magical treasures and spiritual equipment can be engraved with Spirit Seals to enhance one's speed. In contrast, demon wings and demon bodies cannot…"

"Xu Ri's failure was inevitable."

Ning Fan held Xu Ri's jade slip and placed it on his glabella. Immediately, Xu Ri's speech echoed from the jade slip. Coincidentally, the content of the speech recorded what Xu Ri had learned from trying to engrave a Spirit Seal on his wings in the past.

"Today, I have researched for the possibility of engraving Spirit Seals on demon wings from the scriptures within the Scripture Tower of the Lie Tu Province… The Honorable Demon General said that Spirit Seals can only be carved unto magical treasures and spiritual equipment. There is no way that a Spirit Seal can be engraved unto a physical body. It was the final verdict from the ancient times. But I don't believe it…"

"I have spent two hundred years and checked out all one hundred and ten thousand books in the province and finally, I discovered an introduction to Spirit Seals which was recorded in an old, worn-out book. However, the introduction was rather disappointing. According to it, before the ancient times, the demon race were able to carve Spirit Seals on their demon bodies. However, something happened later which caused the 'spirit' of the demon race to be taken away… Ever since that incident, the demon race can never engrave any Spirit Seals on their bodies anymore. However, there is an exception. There was only a True Spirit race who managed to avoid the catastrophe and retained their 'Spirit' because they specialized in cultivating their demon eyes which enabled them to see through the 'truth' of heaven and earth. Because of that, that True Spirit Race was cursed by the world and eventually, they became extinct…"

"Today, I have invited the best spirit augmentation master of the Lie Tu Tribe to help me perform spirit augmentation on my phoenix's wings. I want to find out whether there is a possibility for my Fire Phoenix's wings to be engraved with Spirit Seals…As a result, I failed, not just because of the excruciating pain but also because the Spirit Seals didn't remain in my bloodline… The master said it was due to the loss of 'spirit' in our demon race…just like the devil race who has lost their 'blood' and the divine race who has lost their 'heart'…No one knows what the 'spirit' of the demon race is…As such, it seemed like I can only give up on the fancy thought of engraving Spirit Seals on my wings…"

After hearing his speech, Ning Fan kept quiet and pondered for a while before keeping the jade slip.

This Xu Ri might not have been powerful but he truly deserved to be a Divine Transformation Realm demon based on his courage in trying out new things. Moreover, he has commendable patience… Despite knowing that the Spirit Seals can never be engraved on a physical demon body, he still dared to give it a try... Besides, he was willing to spend two hundred years to study all the books in the Scripture Tower. His willpower sure is strong. It's no wonder that he is the strongest among the three Demon Generals!"

But carving Spirit Seals on demon wings?

If it was not Xu Ri who brought that idea up, Ning Fan personally thought that he would probably not be able to think of it.

Ever since the moment he learned the way of engraving Spirit Seals, he had always thought that Spirit Seals were only applicable to magical treasures due to his inner thinking.

After killing Xu Ri by chance and obtaining the deceased's jade slip, only then did he know that the Spirit Seals were not originally carved on spiritual equipment but… on the physical bodies of the demons!

However, because of the loss of their 'spirit', the use of Spirit Seals became impossible.

Therefore, in order to make up for their loss, they created spiritual equipment!

Spiritual equipment…Spiritual equipment, the word 'spirit' that made up the name actually carried a startling meaning!

Even the majority of the ancient demons had no knowledge about the true meaning of 'spirit' because it had been far too long after the incident.

Xu Ri was a person who did things wholeheartedly. He had figured it out and he had also discovered it… As for the speech he left within the jade slip, it made Ning Fan's eyes brighten up!

He had a strong feeling that the only True Spirit Race which still kept their "spirit" was very likely to be the Fu Li!

It was a kind of instinct!

Moreover, he finally understood why Xu Ri, a person who seemed to be uncommunicative, would be willing to come forth and assassinate him…

What he set his eyes upon was not the bounty…instead, it's the Fu Li's bloodline!

Xu Ri must have guessed that this bloodline was probably the cursed demon bloodline mentioned in the scriptures…

It was why he came but unfortunately for him, he no longer has the chance to study Ning Fan's bloodline anymore…

"In the jade slip, is it possible that the Fu Li Race is the cursed True Spirit Race mentioned in the scripture…If it's true, then the Fu Li's bloodline definitely has limitless potential and prospects!"

Ning Fan's eyes were shining in enthusiasm. After he made that guess in his mind, there was no way he could stop thinking about it.

Since ancient times, there were quite a number of True Spirit Races which had become extinct. Therefore, Ning Fan did not have 100% assurance that the True Spirit Race that was cursed by the Heavenly Dao was the Fu Li Race or not.

According to the jade slip, that particular True Spirit Race possesses the ability to see through the Heavenly Dao. It is exactly the same ability as the innate ability of the Fu Li – True Sight. In other words, the Fu Li Race might have been cursed, but their 'spirit' still remains intact, allowing their demon bodies and even demon wings to be engraved with… Spirit Seals!

Ning Fan intended to try it out but there was still a doubt unresolved within his heart!

After he had awakened the royal Fu Li's bloodline, he had tried flying using the Fu Li's wings. Its speed was incredibly shocking!

Every True Spirit Race had their own unique inborn talent. For example, the Phoenix Race was the master of flames while the Dragon Race was immune to lightning. As for the Fu Li Race, its unique ability was related to speed and illusory techniques.

With that extra boost of speed from the natural ability of the Fu Li's bloodline, even if Ning Fan did not conjure his wings, his speed was already comparable to that of an Early Divine Transformation Realm being, when using the Shadow Mist Technique.

After summoning his wings, his speed would be enhanced to a level nearly comparable to a Mid Divine Transformation Realm being's!

But what he could not comprehend the most was when he flew using the Fu Li's wings and it did not consume any of his demon power as if it functioned with the magic power extracted from heaven and earth!

Especially during the last time when he chased after Demon General Jing Yun, the latter performed Instant Shift until he was already gasping for air whereas Ning Fan's qi was unaffected at all after catching up with him.

Ning Fan did not pay much attention to that matter at first as he merely thought that it was the special ability of the royal demon bloodline.

But as he contemplated about it now, it was not as simple as it seemed to be…

Because of the existence of "spirit" in the spiritual equipment, users were able to borrow power from heaven and earth, and use them without consuming a single portion of their own power!

Perhaps, originally, the True Spirit Races could also borrow the power from heaven and earth to summon rain and command wind and become the master of the laws of nature when they still had their "spirit"!

Ning Fan was clueless what "spirit" was but he could faintly tell that it was an ability to borrow magic power from heaven and earth!

That is to say, the reason why flying with the Fu Li's wings did not consume any of his demon power was because the Fu Li Race was exactly the race which still kept their "spirit"!

Because of their demon eyes, they could discover the truth of heaven and earth and managed to avoid the calamity. However, although they were able to keep their "spirit", they were cursed and perished in just a short period of time…

My guess is extremely likely to be correct!

Yes or no, it will be revealed with just a single try!

I just need to carve a Spirit Seal on my body and that's it!

If he succeeds, Ning Fan's Fu Li bloodline would really be proven to possess the "spirit" and it would have unlimited potential!

Currently, Ning Fan only knew three Spirit Seals: Hardness, Flame and Sharpness.

He rose up from the ground and a pair of massive, purple-black crystal wings grew from his back.

Performing the hand seals with the tips of his fingers, he formed a Spirit Seal and engraved it on his left wing. Immediately, extreme pain which was equivalent to that of carving his own wing with a pen knife spread from his wing to his entire body, making him recall the agony of inscribing the devil marks on his back!

But since the pain of the first stroke of the Spirit Seal was not as painful as what he had felt from the devil mark inscriptions, he gnashed his teeth and endured it!

"The 'Hardness' Spirit Seal has only a single main demon character and seven secondary characters. In total, there are 197 strokes to carve…"

He muttered indifferently. Without giving himself time to rest, the second stroke was carved on his wing!

Subsequently, the third stroke, the fourth stroke… The pain of each of the strokes gradually intensified and it became a gruesome scene to look at after he had carved more than a hundred strokes.

101 strokes, 102 strokes…196 strokes… Ning Fan still endured the pain with his teeth gritted tightly together.

The last stroke should not be as painful as the thirtieth inscription of the devil marks. There should be no problem at all for me to endure it!

Brimming with expectations, he finally engraved the last stroke of the Spirit Seal on his left wing.

At the same time, the "Hardness" Spirit Seal solidified and became attached to his wing!

Ning Fan could clearly feel that the hardness of his wings had increased by a little…

Even though it was just a little improvement, it proved that his theory was correct! The Spirit Seals could really be carved on his body!

"The Fu Li Race is truly the True Spirit race which still maintained their 'spirit'!"

Ning Fan's eyes lit up.

With the Spirit Seals, my demon body can be augmented with unimaginable abilities.

The devil marks of the devil race were able to strengthen one's physical defense while the spirit augmentation of the demon race could increase one's abilities!

Ning Fan's mind suddenly had a bold conjecture!

The creation of the spirit augmentation techniques of the demon race was because they lost their "spirit". Then, is it possible that the creation of the devil marks inscriptions of the devil race was because of the loss of their "blood" which caused their physical bodies to deteriorate and were compelled them to come up with the inscriptions to replace their deficiency…

He had no idea whether all that was true or not.

However, the tremendous potential of the Fu Li Race made Ning Fan firmly believe that he did not awaken this bloodline for nothing!

His eyes flashed with resolution and erased the "Hardness" Spirit Seal on his left wing.

What he wanted was not durability as it was able to be enhanced using the devil marks inscriptions.

What he truly wanted was speed!

A new thought surfaced within his mind. He had to learn enough demon words in the province in order to assemble the "Speed" Spirit Seal.

If he is able to carve 7455 "Speed" Spirit Seals on his wings, his speed would probably not be any weaker than that of a Late Divine Transformation Realm being even if he had yet to attain the Divine Transformation Realm himself.

However, if he really advances into Early Divine Transformation Realm, his travelling speed would then be comparable to that of the Venerated Seven of the Internal Endless Sea.

The province was near!

Three days passed by in a flash.

Outside the province, a group of Demon Soldiers were standing guard, as if they were waiting for something. The leader of the group appeared to be very impatient.

"Lu Bei…Hmmph! I don't care whether you have awakened the royal bloodline or not. You can only die if you dare to steal Wan'er from me! The province is my territory. If you are a dragon, you will have to coil yourself up obediently before me; even if you are a tiger, you will have to lie on the ground in front of me!"

This person was Lu Tianming. He was the most valued descendant of the Cloud General! But he was also the reason why Lu Wan'er decided to escape from the province!

<strong>Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel.</strong>

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