Grasping Evil

Gui Xiong Outpost was the outermost line of defense of the southern part of the Star Sea established by Kun Mo. It stretched into one hundred thousand li* long. Within the place, there were a massive amount of nests and hideouts of sea beasts. With at least three hundred thousand Gold Core Realm beasts standing guard at that place.

Whenever a turbulent water current flowed to that place, it would be neutralized by the power of the formation. Innumerable sea beasts and war chariots were moving in and out of the place which was bustling with activity. Readjustments on the arrangement of the troops and training were being carried out, as if they were preparing for war.

In the area which was the most heavily guarded stood a sea palace. Inside the palace, the general who was responsible for guarding the outpost was drinking wine while cheerfully talking with a few Wild Generals.

Thirty thousand li* (500m per li) outside the vicinity, a ray of golden light suddenly flashed past and landed on the bottom of the sea.

On the golden chariot, Ning Fan did not say anything. His gaze was focused on the formation which emanated clouds of black qi that surrounded the place. The next moment, his expression became stern.

The cold qi of his body had become even more concentrated than before. Even Stone Warrior and the other Early Divine Transformation Realm puppets did not dare to get close to Ning Fan and had to maintain a distance of three zhang* (3.13m per zhang) with him.

The cold qi was the poison from the Evil Cold Worm. After freezing the vital organs within his body, it was now showing signs of invading his Sea of Consciousness.

"Lu Bei, this is the pill that you need…" Inside the Golden Flame Chariot, Xi Ran's face was covered with dust and ashes. Hurriedly, she walked out from the chariot carrying a fiery-red pill which was boiling hot as it had just been concocted and cautiously handed it over to Ning Fan.

It was a Mid-Grade Fifth Revolution pill – Vermilion Bird Soul Warming Pill!

This pill was created based on the pill recipe given by Ning Fan. Xi Ran had no idea about what the actual effects of the pill were. But at the moment when she received the recipe, she hesitated. By just looking at the medicinal ingredients required to concoct the pill, she could tell that this pill had no effect in completely eradicating the cold poison.

Vermilion Bird Soul Warming Pill. Within a short period of time, it was able to turn a cultivator's Sea of Consciousness into flames, enabling them to temporarily have something which resembled the fire consciousness or fire sense. However, the power of it was definitely not as strong as the true fire consciousness.

Xi Ran did not know why Ning Fan would need that pill. Even so, she did not question him about it. Instead, she used a secret technique which inflicted damage on herself to forcefully concoct this pill within just three days.

If she were to concoct the pill depending only on her own power, she would need at least one hundred days to complete it. Her act of shortening the duration required for the production of the pill was without a doubt extremely harmful to her. Moreover, it had even slightly diminished the purity of her blood veins.

She was scared. She was scared that Ning Fan might die. Therefore, she just thought that the faster she could concoct the pill, the better it would be. Before Qu Feng breathed his last, he said that those who had been affected by the Evil Cold Worm would never be able to survive for another three days… She was not sure how many days Ning Fan could stay alive.

"You've finished concocting it within three days?" Ning Fan asked with a tone of surprise. However, when he saw Xi Ran's face which was as pale as a ghost, he instantly understood that the little girl must have inflicted quite some damage on herself just to refine the pill.

I've just saved her once due to my promise. And now, she spared no effort to concoct the pill for me to save me. She's really a pure and naïve girl.

"Thank you…"

"I'm fine. You should quickly consume this pill!" Xi Ran said with a serious expression.

"Mmh."

Ning Fan opened his mouth, popped the pill inside and swallowed it down. Immediately, a scorching hot medicinal power flowed into his immortal veins, circulating throughout his entire body and eventually flowed into his Sea of Consciousness.

Within his sword consciousness, the medicinal power began to spread, causing his sword sense which was in the form of countless miniature swords to be lit up with flames. As for his original sword sense, it now carried a trace of flame power.

In terms of destructive power, such fire power was not any stronger than any Nascent Soul Realm magical techniques. However, there was another purpose for him by having his Sea of Consciousness turn into flames!

His eyes shone with determination. Without hesitating any longer, Ning Fan forced the cold poison which had affected all his limbs and bones into his Sea of Consciousness.

That was supposed to be a self-harming act. However, because his Sea of Consciousness had been turned into flames, it did not freeze!

"Why did you lead all of the worm's poison into your Sea of Consciousness?! Don't tell me… You want to use its poison to increase the power of your spirit sense?!" Xi Ran's face was filled with shock. At this moment, she finally understood why Ning Fan requested her to concoct the Vermilion Bird Soul Warming Pill.

Worm Refining Technique. It was actually a type of spirit sense attack. To be more accurate, it was an attack using worm sense. The venomous worms which were uniquely raised and reared had terrifying worm sense. That purple thorn which appeared out of nowhere in their previous encounter was the strongest worm sense attack that was formed by the Evil Cold Worm using its entire life. Its power was comparable to that of a Peak Divine Transformation Realm expert's entire spirit sense.

Hence, the worm sense was impressively strong. The might of its thorn was terrifying and its poison was extremely cold, making it difficult to eradicate by ordinary means.

As such, the worm's poison residing within Ning Fan's body was not just poison but also the power of its spirit sense which it had gathered throughout its whole life! If Ning Fan was able to assimilate the power of the worm, it would certainly enhance his spirit sense and even turn the harmful worm's poison into an effective medicine to raise the power of his spirit sense. However, Xi Ran had never seen anyone who would think of refining a worm's poison to enhance their spirit sense! For ordinary cultivators, if they have been afflicted by a worm's poison, who would take the risk to refine it? Being able to expel the poison out of one's body would already considered extremely lucky, wouldn't it?

"What are you doing?! Is the worm's poison something a cultivator can refine?!" Xi Ran was feeling so worried that she nearly cried. If she knew that Ning Fan was going to resort to such radical means to deal with the worm's poison, she would never have agreed to refine the Vermilion Bird Soul Warming Pill for him. She would have searched for other alternatives and concoct other types of pills to make him live.

Perhaps it might take some toll on her, causing her cultivation level to regress. However, as long as she could save Ning Fan's life, she would do anything.

"Don't worry!"

Ning Fan gently patted Xi Ran's head, making the latter blush. After all, it was her first time having her hair touched by a man.

However, in the next moment, Xi Ran realized that after Ning Fan had consumed the pill and led the worm's poison into his Sea of Consciousness, he was able to touch her again. It was not something that he could possibly do earlier!

"Your poison has been suppressed?!" Xi Ran asked with a face full of astonishment.

"For the time being, yes! With the strength of my sword sense and the heat of the Soul Warming Pill, this cold poison can't freeze my Sea of Consciousness yet. On the other hand, if I completely refine the worm sense within the cold poison, my spirit sense would be greatly enhanced!"

The corner of Ning Fan's lips curved into a faint smile. When it comes to dealing with affairs and people, his principle was to maximize the benefits for everything. Even if he was poisoned, he wanted to obtain some benefits from that circumstance.

Evil Cold Worm? As long as its poison can't kill me, this poison wouldn't be considered detrimental to me. Instead, it's a tonic for my spirit sense!

With his sword sense and the help from the Soul Warming Pill, Ning Fan was capable of temporarily restraining the Evil Cold Worm's poison. As long as he manages to gather enough demon blood in the shortest time possible, he could then cure his poison and improve his spirit sense at the same time!

Without uttering any more words, Ning Fan pointed at the Golden Flame Chariot. Then, it disappeared into a ray of golden light and moved across the sea, traversing thirty thousand li* (500 m per li) within an instance and emerged again at the Gui Xiong Outpost!

Outside the outpost, hundreds of Gold Core Realm sea beasts noticed the arrival of the golden chariot and were instantly alarmed.

It was indeed their first time witnessing the incredible speed of the golden chariot. As it appeared outside the vicinity of the outpost, it suddenly appeared without showing any sign at all.

A sea beast emitted a loud cry of alarm and a group of at least a hundred sea beasts surrounded the chariot. With an indifferent expression, one of them coldly said, "Stop right there! It is a heavy crime for anyone who isn't a member of the Gui Xiong Outpost to trespass here. If you don't retreat within three breaths, then die!"

Each of the sea beasts was just at the Gold Core Realm. They only noticed that there were thirteen shadows on the Golden Flame Chariot and the dragon corpse which pulled the chariot was as massive as a mountain. However, none of them was able to see through any of their cultivation level.

Although they had no idea of the cultivation level of the intruders, they knew that the group of intruders was not some people they should offend. Despite that, none of them were feeling fearful since no matter how strong the group of intruders might be, they were subordinates of Kun Mo, the ruler of the southern part of the Star Sea. No one would be bold enough to cause troubles in Kun Mo's territory!

Thus, that group of sea beasts needed not to be courteous towards Ning Fan and his group!

Ning Fan leapt down from the chariot and domineeringly spread his spirit sense. His Late Divine Transformation Realm spirit sense effortlessly penetrated the defensive formation of the outpost and brushed past each of the Gold Core Realm sea beasts.

Instantly, every single one of the Gold Core Realm sea beasts was filled with shock. When Ning Fan's spirit sense swept across them, the group of demons clearly felt an irresistible aura force which was much stronger than that of the chief general of the outpost.

What's more terrifying was that the qi of his spirit sense had unrestrainedly released a trace of bloody Baleful Qi which was so intense that it was inerasable!

The immense Baleful Qi made one feel like he had just been through a blood sea before arriving at the outpost!

"You… Who are you?! You can't possibly be a nameless being in the Star Sea with such powerful spirit sense! Ahhhh!"

At this moment, the group of sea beasts no longer had the arrogance on their faces like before. What was left in them was fear and terror!

Each of the beasts which had a huge body the size of a hill were all ashamed of their inferiority, emanating a weak aura when standing right in front of Ning Fan who appeared to be just a thin and frail man!

They suddenly remembered that they should have politely asked for the intruders' identities before chasing them out from the outpost.

However, why should Ning Fan even bother making an explanation to those beasts who were about to meet their deaths!

Your master is my enemy!

Your blood is the best remedy for me to cure my poison and improve my spirit sense!

"Go to hell!"

As Ning Fan spread his sword sense, the one hundred sea beasts which were merely at the Gold Core Realm were immediately shredded to pieces and perished into a cloud of blood mist. The next moment, Ning Fan opened his mouth wide and inhaled! The blood mist was all absorbed into his abdomen!

Under the nourishment of the blood essence from the one hundred sea beasts, the cold poison within him was immediately diminished by one in one hundred thousand.

The cold poison which was neutralized was then devoured by his fiery spirit sense, slightly improving the power of his spirit sense.

Even though that improvement was too insignificant to make a mark, it made Ning Fan's eyes sparkle!

Devouring the worm's poison to raise my spirit sense… Feasible!

"Who is committing murder in my Gui Xiong Outpost?! Are you courting death?!"

Groups of ferocious beasts stood above the city wall which was ten thousand zhang* (3.13m per zhang) tall. All of them roared loudly and angrily.

It was impossible for them not to realize Ning Fan's action of killing one hundred Gold Core Realm beasts.

After witnessing Ning Fan's might, how would the other Gold Core Realm beasts be audacious enough to exit the formation and engage him? All of them only occupied the city wall, staying within the formation and firing thousands of arrows at him using the power of the formation. While initiating long-ranged attacks at Ning Fan, they were sending warnings to the internal part of the outpost.

"It's the 'Jade Breaking Arrow Formation'?! They actually displayed that Peak Divine Transformation Realm formation. The formation power that is imbued on the arrows is extremely strong. A single one of the formation arrows is able to kill a Late Gold Core Realm being. One hundred of them can kill a Late Nascent Soul Realm being whereas ten thousand of them can take a Late Divine Transformation Realm expert's life! Lu Bei, you have to be careful. This arrow formation is not weak…"

Xi Ran was feeling anxious. She was afraid that the current Ning Fan who already had some injuries with him would be wounded by a volley of arrows.

However, that worries she had was unnecessary. It was because Ning Fan straight away placed his arm around Xi Ran's slim and tender waist and soared into the sky.

"I'm going to massacre them. If you're afraid, just close your eyes…"

He only uttered a sentence. However, as his voice fell, a massive killing intent surged within his eyes!

As he pressed his finger on his glabella, a crystal compass glowing in silver light appeared in his palm.

Just as that compass appeared, a starlight formation diagram occupying the vicinity of one hundred zhang* (3.13m per zhang) in front of him emerged right beneath his foot.

The formation diagram was ancient and abstruse. After fusing it with countless ancient formations, it began to give out traces of heavy and boundless qi.

All of a sudden, the starlight formation radiated with dazzling light in all directions. Thirty thousand silver lotus lamps rose, surrounding Ning Fan and Xi Ran.

Each of the lamps were lit up in silver light one after another. At that moment, Xi Ran was completely drawn by that scene, revealing a look of awe because these lotus lamps were really beautiful. They were even more beautiful than fireworks.

"What is this magical treasure? Why haven't I seen Lu Bei using it before?"

There was no reply to her question.

After three thousand lamps were lit up, a silver-colored light veil shot up from the formation diagram below, shielding the two of them!

The ten thousand arrow light which was enough to eliminate a Late Divine Transformation Realm expert landed on the silver light formation. However, as soon as they came into contact with the formation, every single one of them were burned in silver flames and reduced to ashes.

Above the massive wall, the sea beasts were stupefied by the scene.

What is that treasure? Its defense is really heaven-defying! It is even sturdy enough to block the power of the formation light which is able to kill a Late Divine Transformation Realm with ease!

"Three thousand star lamps are more than enough to block a Late Divine Transformation Realm strike. But it isn't over yet… Deflect!"

As Ning Fan muttered the word 'deflect', ten thousand silver-colored arrows rained down from Ning Fan's formation!

It was exactly the same as the attack delivered by the great formation of the Gui Xiong Outpost!

That was the ability of the Inlaid Star Compass! Its defense was matchless and it also had the ability of deflecting attacks!

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

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