Grasping Evil

Showing no clemency, his hand smacked the body of the black dragon. The strength he exerted was not strong. However, he initiated the restrictive effect of the Demon Seal at the same time, causing the black dragon to let out a shriek of agony and eventually coughed out a glob of black blood. Within it, there was a dark red crystal the size of his palm.

That crystal was the blood crystal condensed by the black dragon after spending eleven years in refining the blood essence of the dark beasts with much effort.

Ning Fan's eyes glittered.

"Blood crystal! Rumor has it that only the True Spirits of the Dragon Race could congeal such crystal due to the power of their royal bloodline when they were in their Wild Beast forms… This sinful dragon might not possess the royal bloodline but he was capable of producing the blood crystal. At the end of the day, this dragon was still quite useful…"

"However, this dragon is too tyrannical in nature. He even harbors rebellious intention. It would be good to just use him once. If I allow him to stay by my side for a long period of time, he might bump into some kind of opportunity that could enable him to break through to the Void Refinement Realm in one go. When there is a big gap between our cultivation levels, he will surely break free from my Demon Seal and turn against me…."

"Killing him is a waste whereas keeping him invites troubles… The only method to put things right once and for all is to refine that creature into a corpse puppet!"

His eyes flashed with a hint of cruelty. At the same moment, the black dragon which was immobilized after being bound by the Demon Seal was gripped by the feeling of horror for no reason.

This malefic being must have thought of some dreadful methods to deal with me…

It's over, it's over… My words were too aggressive and they have provoked him for real…

"Big…Big Brother… This little brother has already given you the blood crystal of the dark beasts… Erm… So… Could you please let this little brother go back to the golden flame chariot? From now onwards, this little brother will surely devote my heart and soul to pull the chariot for you and never dare to betray you, not even harboring those thoughts anymore…"

"Pull the chariot? The chariot will of course have to be pulled by you. However, it won't be the 'living' you. Instead…it will be the 'dead' you!"

When Ning Fan had captured the black dragon, he was already aware that the black dragon would be difficult to truly subdue. At the end of the day, the Demon Seal was just a precarious means.

To him, it would be a waste to kill the black dragon while keeping it by his side would be equivalent to letting cancer grow into one's body. The best solution was to refine that creature into a puppet. If he is turned into a puppet, Ning Fan would then be able to control the dragon's movements and actions at his will. Most importantly, the sinful dragon would never have the intention to commit treason…

Since Ning Fan had the Corpse Devil Record which was a devil technique, it was not impossible for him to turn that dragon into a refined corpse. Besides, after the process of refinement, the cultivation level of the dragon would be fused with his body, enhancing his combat power. As a living dragon, he was a failure. Among the members of the same level as him, he was considered feeble and frail because he had lost the overbearing aura of the Dragon Race. But as a corpse puppet, his dragon corpse would be a peerless thing.

However, there were two difficulties in turning the black dragon into a corpse puppet.

Firstly, this dragon was just in the form of a soul. Thus, the first thing that needs to be done was to recover his physical body.

Secondly, the memories within the Sea of Consciousness of the dragon must be erased. But in the past, Ning Fan was not able to peek into the dragon's memories, let alone wipe out his memories.

However, after attaining the breakthrough to the Divine Transformation in the Sea of Clouds, there was an extra seed within his heart – the seed of samsara. It stored all his understandings towards the power of samsara.

The comprehension he had towards it was very miniscule. In fact, it was not enough to enable him to search the dragon's memories. However, it's terrifying properties were sufficient to wipe out his memories!

Samsara! The power of samsara was capable of seizing everyone's memories. Moreover, it was a power that even the Immortal Sovereign could not fully control.

"You will be…a fine corpse puppet…" The corners of Ning Fan's lips curled into a smile. However, that smile made the black dragon feel the chills penetrating into his bones.

What? It's impossible!

This malefic being intends to turn me into a corpse puppet?! How dare he?!

The next moment, an unbearable agony as if his mind was splitting apart hit his Sea of Consciousness, causing him not to doubt Ning Fan's decision.

If the black dragon behaves obediently, he would have been in a fine condition. But since he was successfully turned himself into a potential threat, it just made Ning Fan more determined to eliminate him.

"I curse you, malefic being, you're going to die very horribly! You won't die a natural death!"

"This Elder Brother is the young master of the Black Dragon Race. I am a heaven-defying dragon which nearly awakened the royal bloodline. I refuse to obey you! I refuse!"

"You don't ever think that you can refine me into a corpse puppet! Because you won't be able to erase my memories at all, haha!"

The black dragon laughed in a frantic manner. Afterwards, he started to forcibly break the Demon Seal within his Sea of Consciousness, struggling to break free with all his might even if it might cost his life.

"Exactly. Unless you are correct this time…"

The coldness within Ning Fan's gaze dissipated and the color of his eyes varied radically.

It was as if a seed began to sprout. Sometimes, his eyes were filled by complete blackness whereas sometimes they became pure white and that two extremely contrasting colors abnormally interchanged with each other from time to time.

That bizarre change of colors within Ning Fan's eyes had caused the black dragon to feel puny and insignificant for the first time.

He was startled and his body began to shiver without his control.

"What….What is that look…"

"No, it can't be! It's the power of samsara!"

Before samsara, all living creatures were equally lowly without exceptions.

As Ning Fan placed the tip of his finger on the head of the dragon, a gust of golden purple mist encircled the dragon. In a flash, the creature's memories vanished like mist and clouds.

All his former glory and rancor were turned to naught by that finger.

"What divine ability is this…" After muttering the final line, the black dragon emitted a painful howl. His memories were wiped out and his Sea of Consciousness was emptied.

Moreover, that Wind Mist Finger had even erased the Demon Seal that was planted earlier.

Ning Fan narrowed his eyes in seriousness.

The Mental Seal and Demon Seal aren't reliable means after all. Ultimately, the most reliable dependable factor is still my own power.

Other than eliminating enemies, the Wind Mist Finger was capable of erasing one's memories including the Mental Seal or Demon Seal that was planted within them or even the seals that were imprinted on magical treasures by other cultivators with ease.

If there comes a Void Fragmentation Realm expert who had been planted a Mental Seal by someone else, Ning Fan might also be able to help him or her break free from it and then receive rewards for his deed...

Well, it was just an idea that Ning Fan briefly thought about. He did not know whether such an idea would come true somewhere in the Internal Endless Sea…

Currently, he looked at the dragon soul which was giving him a vacant stare after having his memories erased and muttered, "Next, I'm going to rebuild the dragon's body…"

He inserted different kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures into the dragon soul, forming a flickering dark orb. Gradually, the physical body of a dragon formed.

What made Ning Fan feel strange about it was that at the moment the demon body of the dragon was growing, the demon bloodline which seemed to be dead and inactive within the black dragon simmered.

It was inching forward to the level of the royal bloodline, as if it was trying to evolve.

But that advancement was eventually obstructed by a vague barrier.

A while later, the dragon's body was fully congealed but its bloodline had yet to achieve the breakthrough. Every time, it would stop right before the point of breaking through to the grade of the royal bloodline, as if there was something lacking.

"What's missing…"

Ning Fan brought his eyes back to focus. When the purple star within his left eye emerged, he finally understood.

"It lacks...the spirit!"

He might not know what a spirit was to the demons, but he was aware that the Fu Li Race possessed it.

He then injected a trace of his own demon power into the dragon corpse.

As soon as his demon power circulated within the corpse, the demon bloodline began to seethe more vigorously at that very instance.

At the same time, a frail, shimmering black ray surrounded the dragon corpse. If Ning Fan was not wrong, this dragon corpse had already possessed the royal bloodline of the Dragon Race, even though there was only a fine, thin strand of it…

Ning Fan's eyes flashed with surprise.

My Fu Li demon power actually has the ability of helping the True Spirit Races reawaken their royal bloodlines!

"If it wasn't because this sinful dragon has nearly awakened his royal bloodline, if it wasn't because I decided to erase his memories, I would not have discovered such fascinating ability hiding within my Fu Li demon power…"

He immersed himself in his thoughts for a while and then withdrew his previous expression, wearing back the calm look. This time, he landed another slap on the head of the dragon corpse without showing mercy anymore, and completely shattering his Sea of Consciousness.

The Demon Soul disintegrated!

As such, this dragon would only be just a Peak Divine Transformation Realm dragon corpse which was a hair's breadth away from the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm.

In Ning Fan's right eye, a dark-colored star emerged. It was the Earth Controlling Star.

It was a devil star. As for the devil cultivation method that Ning Fan practiced, it was the Corpse Devil Record. The Corpse Refinement technique contained within the record was definitely not weak.

The only unfortunate element was that there were only a total of 11 traces of the devil intent and corpse qi accumulated within the right eye. In other words, he only possessed 11 units of devil qi in total.

As the devil star blinked, a cloud of corpse qi enveloped the dragon, and it transformed into a devil flame which began to burn the whole dragon corpse. At the same time, it was fusing his corpse qi and devil intent into the dragon corpse, making it into a true refined corpse.

Three days later, when the process of corpse refinement was only halfway through, it was unable to continue.

The 11 units of devil qi that Ning Fan had could only refine the corpse up to that point. It was because he did not have sufficient devil qi to proceed to the next step in corpse refinement.

As such, he had to temporarily bring the process to a halt. As he lingered his gaze at his semi-finished work, he scanned through the surrounding black dragon pond and his eyes sparkled.

The corpse qi of this place is very concentrated. It's the perfect place to cultivate the Corpse Devil Record as well as increasing my devil qi.

There isn't just an ancient dragon corpse lying down here, but also countless Peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivators who lost their lives here for the past thousands of years. Other than that, there are also thousands of dark beasts that were hunted down by the black dragon, leaving a deep and strong unresolved resentment at this place.

"Absorb!"

The Earth Controlling Star within his right eye rotated rapidly, as if it had formed a black vortex, sucking every last trace of the corpse qi found in that area.

The fallen dark beasts and demon cultivators were at least at the Nascent Soul Realm. Besides, since they were dead beneath the abnormal landscape of the Dragon Pond, the yin qi and resentment left by them were intensified.

Thousands of traces of yin qi were absorbed into his eye and eventually turning into not more than a hundred units of devil qi.

They only managed to make up 98 traces of devil qi… Adding together with the previous 11 traces, Ning Fan now only had 109 traces of devil qi, which were equivalent to 109 units devil power.

Devil Qi, 109 units, Mid Nascent Soul Realm…

With Ning Fan's current perspective, a hundred units of devil power was no longer able to excite him.

There should be tens of thousands of cultivators including Peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivators and even Divine Transformation Realm cultivators buried down here. However, there is only this little amount of devil intent. I'm afraid it would be very difficult to amass ten thousand traces of devil intent and reach the Divine Transformation Realm… Unless there is a burial mound which is as large as the Internal Endless Sea with at least hundreds of millions of cultivators being buried beneath and the yin qi is protected by the landscape of that place… Only then could I attain the Divine Transformation Realm…

Speaking of which, how is it possible that such a place would exist?

…

No. Perhaps, a place like this really does exist!

"The Ancient Heavenly Court!"

Ning Fan's eyes brightened up. The Ancient Heavenly Court had fallen after being assaulted by someone, leaving only a desolate wasteland. However, no one knew how many True Immortals were buried there and how strong the yin qi and resentment of that place was.

If I am able to enter the Ancient Heavenly Court, not to mention the opportunities that I might bump into, the yin qi of the deceased alone will be enough to allow the cultivation of my Corpse Devil Record to attain a terrifying level…

Clearing off his thoughts, he continued burning the dragon corpse with devil flame using his newfound devil power.

Three days later, the dragon corpse was successfully turned into a corpse puppet!

After all, a Wild Beast would only be strong and powerful when it had its own physical body. After smelting hundreds of types of spiritual minerals and using them to fortify it, the dragon corpse completely reformed while its aura had gone a step further, reaching the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm when the Peak Divine Transformation Realm dragon blood was fused with it.

The black dragon's dream had finally come true. He had finally broken through to the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm.

However, he would never feel happy or delighted anymore because he was already dead. Since he was no longer alive, what's the point of having strength?!

A Half-Step Void Refinement corpse puppet!

With this dragon corpse puppet in tow, while Ning Fan might not be completely unrivalled in the Second World, he would at least have the capability to overpower most of the tribes there!

After casting a spell on the black dragon corpse, it immediately shrunk into a tiny black snake with glossy scales and kept it into his storage pouch.

The problem with that dragon was solved. However, what Ning Fan did next was not to immediately stabilize his cultivation level.

He flicked his sleeve and fished out a piece of silver luopan1.

This luopan was called the Star Luopan. It allowed one to traverse into the Void Realm. In fact, it was a treasure that was commonly used by cultivators in the Four Heavens Immortal Worlds which aid them in flying through the Void Realm.

Besides, it also stored a map of a star domain within.

The map was labelled as the star domain of the Void Realm. Even though it was just a piece of star domain, its size was nearly tens of thousands of Rain World combined.

The size of the Rain World was considered as a chiliocosm.

This Void Realm however, was a medium dichiliocosm, which was a thousand times larger than the former universe.

Void Realm. Black Tortoise Star. The reason why the Tablet Master Immortal Emperor gave me this item is because he wants me to search for him when I ascend to the immortal world in the future.

"Establishing a good affinity, huh… Whether his intentions are kind or evil, without the power to defend myself against people like him, I will never risk entering that place rashly…"

After keeping the Star Luopan, he swallowed down the blood crystal of the dark beasts and began to assimilate it with his eyes closed.

His cultivation realm was in the midst of stabilizing. Moreover, under the nourishment of the blood crystal, it gradually improved.

The amount of demon power contained within this blood crystal which had been painstakingly refined by the black dragon for eleven years from the poisonous blood of the dark beasts was at the very least on par with a Divine Transformation Realm Dao Fruit.

When it was fully digested, Ning Fan gained an increase of 700 units in his demon power, totaling to 15450 units.

To any Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, that enhancement would be unimaginable. To cultivators who had attained the Divine Transformation Realm, it was just a common phenomenon.

The standard level for an expert to attain the Early Divine Transformation Realm was to accumulate ten thousand units of magic power.

For the Mid Divine Transformation Realm, fifty thousand units.

For the Late Divine Transformation Realm, one hundred and fifty thousand units.

For the Peak Divine Transformation Realm, three hundred thousand units.

Lastly, for the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm, five hundred thousand units!

When one has one million units of magic power, he or she would then advance into the…Void Refinement Realm!

Therefore, for a cultivator who wants to attain a million units of magic power, an increase of 700 units of magic power was really too little…

He remained silent as he shut his eyes but his mind was deep in thought.

It's truly a good thing to have obtained an extra 2480 units of magic power from the Third Step of Mortal Severance in the trip to the Sea of Clouds. Even so, there is still one thing unfortunate about it. When my magic power broke through to the peak stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, the Heavenly Tribulation of blood lightning did not befall me as it was blocked by the Sea of Clouds. As such, I've lost a chance to enhance my Spirit Crushing Whip using the Heavenly Tribulation.

After all, there are bound to be some losses among gains. It's unavoidable.

Moreover, it's a little depressing that advancements in demon power aren't going to cause the Heavenly Tribulation since magic power is still the core of my cultivation…

After breaking through to the Divine Transformation Realm, his spirit sense had attained the Mid Divine Transformation Realm. With just the technique of incarnation, he was peerless among the Mid Divine Transformation Realm experts. Besides, when taking his Second Level of Jade Life Body Refining Realm into consideration, Ning Fan was confident that he could even put up a fight with the Late Divine Transformation Realm experts!

Moreover, if he displays the Wind Mist Finger, he might also have the chance of killing them!

But I'm afraid I alone wouldn't be able to win against an expert at the peak stage of the Divine Transformation Realm. However, it might be a different story if I can use the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm dragon corpse puppet as my fighter. It is much more powerful than Peak Divine Transformation Realm cultivators…

As for the demonic technique - Parting Sun Spear, I could barely display its full form with all my effort. It's a technique that requires more practice.

In terms of speed, I could already display the Instant Shift, though I'm still not very proficient in it. Under the blessing of the demon wings of Fu Li, my speed should be able to compete with a Late Divine Transformation Realm expert's.

"What would happen if I augment the "Speed" Spirit Seal on both of my wings?"

Ning Fan's eyes gleamed with determination.

Before leaving the Dragon Pond, why don't I engrave the Spirit Seal now under the aid of the abundant demon power here?

The wings need Spirit Seals and so do the Separation Slayer Sword as well as the Spirit Crushing Whip!

Then, my goals of coming to the Luo Yun Province would all be accomplished except for obtaining the map of the World Passage from Lu Daochen!

"Soul Extraction!"

This time, the scope of area he chose to extract the soul from was rather small as it only involved the Dragon Pond.

Even so, the demon power was seemingly endless as it flowed into his body in a continuous flow, allowing him to have more than enough demon power to perform the engraving of Spirit Seals!

The calamity had finally fallen upon the Luo Yun Tribe.

Within the Encompassing Heaven Hall, Lu Daochen sat up straight on a higher seat in front of a hall with his eyes closed.

Below him, there were two different forces occupying both sides of the hall. One of them was led by a purple-robed belle while the other one was commanded by a golden-robed young man with a frosty look.

The two of them were asking for the map from Lu Daochen.

But Lu Daochen did not have the intention of submitting to any one of them.

"Prince Qu Shun, Empress Zi, this old man has already promised to give the map to someone else. I can't break my promise. Therefore, there is no way I can hand it over to any of you…"

"Oh? So you are going to hand it over to Lu Bei, huh? Hmmph! A mere Nascent Soul Realm ant who is still in the midst of breaking through to the Divine Transformation Realm… Not to mention if he fails, even if he succeeds, what right does he have to possess this map?!"

Demon Imperial Concubine Zi's face darkened. If it was not because of Demon Imperial Concubine Wu Yan who had been dissuading her all this while, she would have directly acted against Lu Daochen and seized his map.

With her Peak Divine Transformation Realm power, she of course did not place Lu Bei in her eyes at all, even though Demon Imperial Concubine Wu Yan had been warning her multiple times already that Lu Bei was not a person she could offend…

"Lu Bei? So he is the one who killed Li Ban and Jin Qun, isn't he? When that matter was spread to the Upper World, they seemed to have been extremely infuriated. Besides, they even blamed that incident on me and I had to take quite a censure from them… I will definitely kill this person and make him pay! The map in his hands will fall into my hands sooner or later. As for yours, if you are planning to give it to him, I would suggest that you might as well give it to me now… Because that Lu Bei is going to die no matter what! So what's the point of giving it to him?!"

The prince of the Demon World, Qu Shun said. He was the son of Sovereign Qu of the Demon World. Although he was just 1200 years old, he was already a Peak Divine Transformation Realm expert. His outstanding potential was able to put him on par with the Daoist child of the Black Tortoise Star, Yi Qing. Moreover, in the Upper World, he was considered as one of the first-class experts.

He was a person who had a promising future of ascending to the Immortal Demon Realm; a true powerful expert who could travel the Demon World unhindered, defeating almost every outstanding being in that world.

His combat power was stronger than Demon Imperial Concubine Zi but his background was slightly weaker than hers.

It was because his identity was just the prince of the Demon World in the mortal Demon World whereas Demon Imperial Concubine Zi was an important person of the Spirit King Palace in the Immortal Demon World.

Therefore, he did not dare to put up a fight against her in the Second World.

Although he eagerly wished that he could immediately seize the map from Lu Daochen's hands, he was forced to restrain himself against the Luo Yun Tribe as the latter had Demon Imperial Concubine Wu Yan as his backer.

Qu Shun's eyes turned gloomy. But the next second, he hid his feelings, no longer revealing a single trace of coldness in his eyes and shook his folding fan which shone with golden light. With a smile on his face, he said.

"Fine. This prince who represents the Pure Flame Tribe holds three pieces of the map. As for Empress Zi who came on behalf of the Spirit King Palace, she holds 2 pieces. You, the Luo Yun Tribe, have 2 while the Second Division, the Thunder Water Tribe and the Third Division, the Feng Yun Tribe hold one each. It'll be very troublesome if we continue to fight in this manner. I have an idea. Why don't we just make use of this opportunity and set up a platform here in your Luo Yun Province and adopt the teachings of my Demon Ancestor, 'Anything that doesn't have the agreement of everyone will be decided with strength'! The nine pieces of the map must be assembled into one. Only then will the World Passage to the Third World could be opened. Besides, since it is unfair to have the people allowed to enter the World Passage be occupied by a single tribe, we will share it together. However, the sequence of going into the Third World has to be decided based on the outcome of the fight…"

"Prince Qu Shun is trying to say…" Lu Daochen's eyes became stern.

This Qu Shun isn't simple. Since he knows that he can't take the map by force, he adapts to the circumstances and changed his way of obtaining it.

"If the World Passage to the Third World is opened with enough blood offerings of the demon beasts, it won't be difficult to let 50 Divine Transformation Realm experts in! After this battle, the World Passage will surely be opened. The nine pieces of the map will be held by the winner of the fight and only contestants who are ranked within the top fifty are qualified to enter the Third World!"

"Good. This old man has no objections!"

Lu Daochen's eyes flashed with determination, thinking that it was a good method of sorting things out.

From his perspective, even if Ning Fan completes the Divine Transformation successfully, it would be nearly impossible for him to seize everyone's maps especially after the intervention of the forces from the Demon World and the Land of Demons.

However, he was confident that it should not be difficult for Ning Fan to get into the top fifty after attaining the power of Divine Transformation Realm…

Demon Imperial Concubine Zi's eyes turned cold. She disliked this suggestion. After all, in her expectation, the trip into the Third World should be dominated by the members of the Spirit King Palace. Besides, she clearly knew that her power was slightly weaker compared to Qu Shun. In the fight, she would at most get the second place while the first place would without a doubt belong to Qu Shun!

Prince Qu Shun sneered inwardly.

Because he knew that he had the greatest power in the entire Second World and no one could rival him…

No matter how many people from the Pure Flame Tribe participate in the fight, the first place will still be mine.

"This Empress has one condition. I would only agree to your suggestion if Prince Qu Shun promises to fulfill a condition!"

"Speak your mind! What's the condition?!" Qu Shun's eyes narrowed with seriousness.

"Peak Divine Transformation Realm experts shall not participate in the fight! Late Divine Transformation Realm is the highest cultivation level allowed in the ring!"

Demon Imperial Concubine Zi smirked. She might not be able to compete with Qu Shun but she knew that Demon Imperial Concubine Wu Yan had few opponents among the Late Divine Transformation Realm. If she is sent to participate in the fight, perhaps she would be able to get the first place.

Having Demon Imperial Wu Yan winning the nine maps would be equivalent to have Demon Imperial Concubine Zi winning them. Once the nine maps fall into her hands, it would be hard to tell whether she would still obey the promise and allow people other than the members of the Spirit King Palace to enter the Third World.

If I have the power to dominate, why don't I? Besides, even if I choose to disobey the agreement, is that Qu Shun daring enough to act against me?!

"Very well. This condition is acceptable!"

Qu Shun's expression changed.

As such, there are some variables for the outcome of the fight.

Other than the Honorable Demon General of the Pure Flame Tribe, Lu Jiefen, there are still the Honorable Demon Generals of the Thunder Water Tribe and the Feng Yun Tribe who are at the Late Divine Transformation Realm. Of course, there is still Wang Xiao who is trying hard to reconstruct his demon body… At the side of the Spirit King Palace, there are two Late Divine Transformation Realm demon imperial concubines.

"If Wang Xiao can recover his demon body, the chances of him to get the first place would not be slim…" Wang Xiao muttered to himself.

Each and every one of them harbored their own thoughts.

The news about the grand and massive tournament swept across the entire Second World from the Luo Yun Province.

To those tribes who had lost their maps, it was an opportunity…A golden opportunity to enter the Third World!

To Ning Fan, it was also a chance!

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

<strong>Note:</strong>

1. Luopan (Chinese: 罗盘, pinyin: luópán) or the geomantic compass is a Chinese magnetic compass, also known as a Feng Shui Compass. It is used by a Feng Shui practitioner to determine the precise direction of a structure or other item. (Click here for picture)