Grasping Evil

Ning Fan withdrew his blood sword.

After killing Tan Lang, he did not feel happy at all. Instead, he was worried. The reason was because what he had killed just now was not its original body but just one of its incarnated souls.

Thousands of years ago, Star Lord Tan Lang had sneaked into the Heaven Hall. Currently, just one of its incarnated souls was already at the Late Divine Transformation Realm… No one knew what kind of opportunity Tan Lang obtained. Currently, he was probably at least at the Mid Void Refinement Realm.

However, if he were to repeat everything all over again, Ning Fan would still kill him again since the latter had already harbored the intention to kill Ning Fan.

That was his character.

With a flick of his sleeve, he carried the two severely injured generals of the Thunder Water Tribe back to the Seven Apricot Ship.

After they got out of danger, they immediately knelt down towards Ning Fan and worshipped him.

"We are the demon generals of the Second Division. We are Lei Mu and Lei Tu. We are sincerely grateful for Generals Bei's kindness in saving our lives! If General Bei needs us, we will never refuse even if we have to die ten thousand times to complete it!"

Ning Fan's gaze scanned through these two generals and tossed a jade slip to each of them.

With a deep tone, he uttered, "Don't mention it. However, I want to know about everything that had happened within the Heaven Hall and the reason why the both of you was assaulted by the star beast. Each of you will imprint your own respective version on the jade slip. If there is a slight difference between the information within your jade slips, don't blame me for being ruthless as I will search your souls and erase your memories!"

"There won't be any differences. We don't dare…"

The two of them were the demon generals of the Second Division, Thunder Water Tribe. With their Divine Transformation Realm cultivation level, they used to be haughty and conceited by considering everything and everyone were beneath them.

However, in front of Ning Fan, they did not even dare to breathe too heavily, let alone lift their eyes to stare at Ning Fan.

Lu Bei from the Luo Yun Tribe! He was an extremely ferocious man who had overawed all members of the nine tribes!

Today, however, the Baleful Qi being emanated by this merciless man's body had grown tens of times more concentrated compared to the one he had a few years back!

Definitely, they would never be bold enough to reject Ning Fan's command!

Ning Fan would not save someone's life for nothing. The reason why he chose to save the two of them was merely because he wanted to find out some information about the situation within the Heaven Hall from them.

If it was not because of their identity as members of the nine tribes of the Lu Clan, Ning Fan would probably have immediately searched their souls.

Currently, the two of them were terribly scared, just like a pair of birds which were startled by the twang of a bowstring. Of course, none of them dared to conceal any information about the situation within the Heaven Hall from Ning Fan. To Ning Fan, it just saved him the effort of searching their souls.

After a brief moment, they handed the jade slips back to Ning Fan. After exchanging glances with each other, both of them gritted their teeth and cupped their fists towards Ning Fan.

"Currently, the situation within the Heaven Hall is too terrifying. It is definitely not a place that a cultivator below the Late Divine Transformation Realm should enter… Since we have been grievously wounded, we are not bold enough to enter the Heaven Hall once again. We earnestly hope that General Bei would allow us to excuse ourselves and return to the Second World…"

"Yes, you may!"

Ning Fan's eyes did not flinch. After all, the matter whether the two of them were going to leave or not had nothing to do with him.

The two generals sighed with feelings and their eyes were filled with disappointment. At first, they planned to enter the Third World to awaken Demon Marshal Lu Wu and gain merits. However, they had never expected the Third World would undergo such a tremendous change. Everywhere was dangerous…

The both of them each took out a formation disk which were made of jade. The formation disk was an item given to each of the demon generals of the nine tribes to leave the Third World.

Activating the formation disk, the two of them transformed into two rays of formation light. Gradually, their presence became ethereal and then disappeared into thin air. They should have now gone back to the Second World.

When they left, Ning Fan placed the two pieces of jade slips on his glabella one after another. After reading them, he found out that the information stored within the two jade slips was generally the same. Apparently, the two demon generals did not lie to him.

However, the contents of the information made Ning Fan's facial expression hardened with seriousness.

"There are actually such changes happening within the Heaven Hall?!"

"What had happened exactly? Is there something wrong with the star beast that you fought just now?" Yuan Yao, Yue Lingkong and Wu Yan saw some problems with Tan Lang earlier.

"Have a look on the jade slips yourselves."

The group of women received the jade slips from Ning Fan's hand. As soon as they read it, their faces changed drastically.

"Lu Wu has died?! A new Demon Marshal Egg has appeared within the Heaven Hall?!"

Wu Yan was the first one to involuntarily cry out due to surprise.

Well, Wu Yan's feeling of surprise was beyond her control. After all, she had never anticipated that the Demon Marshal Lu Wu who should be slumbering in the Third World would actually…die.

According to the information of the jade slip, it showed that the two demon generals from the Thunder Water Tribe as well as the deceased general who was eaten alive by the incarnated soul of Tan Lang had gone through lots of adversities to enter the Heaven Hall through the Star Gate of the Military Breaking Star Sea.

However, not long after they entered the Heaven Hall, they were spotted and pursued by innumerable demon beasts.

They were fortunate to have been rescued by the Honorable Demon Generals of the nine tribes just in time and their lives were kept temporarily safe.

They knew that the nine Honorable Demon Generals were teleported to the Heaven Hall since the beginning, allowing them to discover a shocking secret: Demon Marshal Lu Wu had already passed away since a long time ago!

At the location where Demon Marshal Lu Wu died, there was a ferocious beast which belonged to the Moon Howling Wolf Race that had devoured the demon marshal's corpse and formed a brand-new demon egg, occupying one of the enormous doors which was connected to the deeper parts of the Heaven Hall.

The three of them heeded the commands from the Honorable Demon Generals of the nine tribes to investigate the demon egg. Unfortunately, they were carelessly discovered by groups of demon beasts. They had fled all the way to the remains of the medicinal garden before they could get rid of the beasts' pursuit.

However, before they could even stay for a while longer in the medicinal garden, they were subsequently spotted by Tan Lang's Late Divine Transformation Realm incarnated soul. During the hot pursuit, they were so panic-stricken that they did not choose any particular direction to flee. And it was then that they bumped into Ning Fan who was preparing to enter the Heaven Hall.

What happened next was Ning Fan dealing with that pursuer and saving their lives in the process.

The news of Lu Wu's death made the women of the demon race like Wu Yan and Xi Ran suddenly sigh with low spirits.

As for Yuan Yao, another worry surfaced within her head.

"After Lu Wu died, I really wonder if the 'Star Palace Key' has fallen into the hands of that mysterious wolf demon…"

Star spirits could only survive depending on the power of the stars. It was not only Ning Fan who recognized the star spirits. It might also not necessarily be just Ning Fan who managed to figure out that the Star Palace was actually the Star of the Celestial Emperor itself.

The entire Star Palace was the power of the Celestial Emperor. In order to obtain this power, one must find the core of the Star Palace and unlock the power of the star using the key.

From Yuan Yao's perspective, the key must be on Lu Wu's hands. Since Lu Wu had died and his corpse had also been devoured, the key would naturally be in the mysterious wolf demon's possession.

"I must obtain the emperor's star! I must seize the key from that wolf demon!" Yuan Yao's face looked rather serious.

"The key huh…"

Ning Fan felt a slight urge to laugh. However, it would certainly be impossible for him to tell Yuan Yao that the key to acquiring the emperor's star had already been passed to him by Lu Daochen before entering the Third World. Moreover, within the broken dream, the key vanished and condensed into a chess piece formed from the power of starlight.

The key is not in the wolf demon's hands but in mine.

Looking at the serious facial expression on Yuan Yao's face, Ning Fan was pondering what would happen if he tells Yuan Yao about the chess piece.

Will this woman desperately fight against me for the Star of the Celestial Emperor?

"With your identity, why are you still interested in seizing the emperor's star? According to my knowledge, while the emperor's star might be an inheritance from the Celestial Emperor, there's not much of its power that remained now after going through a long period of time. At most, it could only let a Divine Transformation Realm cultivator improve by a small cultivation level. Depending on your strength and power, you don't seem to be needing this item which is just like chicken ribs1 to you…"

"Chicken ribs?! You call the power contained within the Star of the Celestial Emperor chicken ribs?! You don't seem to know the uses of the Star of the Celestial Emperor before coming to the Heaven Hall to compete for it with others!"

Upon hearing Ning Fan's words, Yuan Yao felt angry and sneered. However, after looking at it from another perspective, Ning Fan could not be blamed for not knowing the true power of the Star of the Celestial Emperor.

"If you don't mind, how about enlightening me the true uses of the emperor's star? Of course, if you consider me as an outsider who is unworthy of knowing any secrets, then you don't have to tell me anything. After all, in my eyes, the emperor's star is merely a tool for me to increase a small cultivation level. That's it."

Ning Fan gave her a mischievous smile. That harmless and innocent smile on his face, however, caused Yuan Yao to subconsciously avoid his glance. Biting her lips, she hesitantly spoke, "It's not impermissible to tell you about it… After all, it's quite unlikely for you to acquire the emperor's star in the end… In the eyes of ordinary Divine Transformation Realm cultivators like you, this item only has one use and that is to increase one's cultivation level. However, in the eyes of some True Immortal Realm experts and seniors, there are still other uses for it…"

"The second use of it is comprehending the 'Black Star Technique' of the Celestial Emperor. However, the power stored within the Star of the Celestial Emperor has been severely depleted. Unless one has extremely great luck, the success rate of comprehending the Black Star Technique using this tiny emperor's star is not even one out of a million. Hence, there aren't any True Immortals who would get into a fight for just a mere remnant Star of the Celestial Emperor… I, on the other hand, came here to seize this star for this particular reason."

"I need the power of the black star. I don't need much of it. A single trace of it would be enough… With this power, I should be able to help my d… my sister to control the killing qi of her Gui Veins and severe her scarlet dragon. Then, she won't have to experience that embarrassing trouble anymore…"

When Yuan Yao mentioned Bei Xiaoman, she unnaturally changed the way of calling her. She did not address her as her daughter but her younger sister instead.

Without knowing why, she was unwilling to let Ning Fan know that she was already a mother. Perhaps she was afraid that after he knows about it, he would look down on her.

"Oh? So you're doing it for your younger sister?"

Ning Fan nodded his head. He had guessed that Yuan Yao was Bei Xiaoman's elder sister.

So, according to what she has said, the reason why she came here to seize the Star of the Celestial Emperor was just to help that unruly mistress Bei Xiaoman stop her menstruation…

Severing the scarlet dragon. The scarlet dragon actually meant menstruation. Other than Bei Xiaoman who was an exception in this case, ordinary female cultivators would have already severed their scarlet dragons as soon as they started to cultivate. Otherwise, how could they enter into secluded cultivation as they had to experience menstruation once a month which would cause them to be in pain for six to seven days?

If it was not because she was troubled by the problem of her menstruation, Bei Xiaoman would have already achieved the Late Divine Transformation Realm with her natural talent for cultivation. Otherwise, how else would she be so weak that Ning Fan was capable of bullying her?

"If I acquire the Star of the Celestial Emperor, I will give you a trace of the black-colored star power so that you can treat your younger sister's 'wounds'…

"You?" Yuan Yao was slightly astonished hearing his words.

This man is willing to help her?

"Although I don't think you will be able to kill the Void Refinement Realm wolf demon and obtain the Star Palace Key, I am still very thankful for your kind intentions..." A hint of warmth surged within Yuan Yao's heart.

With her identity, there were naturally countless people who act good and friendly to her for all sorts of benefits. However, their friendly acts lacked sincerity.

Her cultivation level was too powerful while her status was too lofty. As the sages say 'it is always cold at the top'. She rarely had any true friends let alone someone whom she could trust.

She had never once relied on others for anything. Every time, she would face everything on her own.

Currently, however, because of the seals on her cultivation level and her severe injuries, she was unable to recover her original cultivation level. Thus, she needed Ning Fan's protection anywhere she goes.

This kind of feeling really made one feel reluctant to lose it…

"What is the third use of the emperor's star?" Ning Fan asked.

"The third use is to unlock the secret hoards located in some sealed areas of the Ancient Heavenly Court. Of course, the power of the emperor's star has already been greatly reduced. With the weak star power within it, nothing much can be done. Therefore, there won't be any overpowered True Immortals purposely descending to the mortal world just to acquire this star.

If the power within this emperor's star was in perfect condition, there would not be just a group of Divine Transformation Realm beings competing for it.

However, it was because the emperor's star had become defective that Ning Fan had the possibility of obtaining it.

"So that's how it is…"

Ning Fan no longer spoke much as he was rearranging his thoughts.

Since the key is already in my hands, I can choose not to deal with Tan Lang if it isn't necessary. I can directly intrude the Heaven Hall and take another path to secretly obtain the emperor's star.

However, before that, I can first lend a hand to Wu Yan and her group.

"Based on the information given by the two generals, it mentioned the remains of the medicinal garden… Perhaps you will be able to find the medicinal ashes that you need there. With these, you will certainly be able to satisfy the Spirit King after you and Xi Ran return to the Spirit King Palace and obtain quite a handsome reward."

"Are we going to visit the remains of the medicinal garden? It's the place where the generals were targeted by the Wild Beast. Wouldn't it be dangerous?" Wu Yan felt a little worried. She was afraid that she would expose Ning Fan unnecessary danger because of her own mission.

"Don't be afraid. If it's just the incarnated soul of Tan Lang…"

Ning Fan's eyes flashed with cold light.

There was one more thing that he did not tell the group of women.

From the jade slip which was given by the two star lords to him, it mentioned one thing.

In the past, the Star Lord Tan Lang disappeared and entered the Heaven Hall. His purpose was to search for Demon Marshal Lu Wu's corpse to devour it and assimilate it so that he could break free from the body of star spirit.

Po Jun and Qi Sha didn't think that Tan Lang would be able to succeed. However, faced with factual proof, he knew that Tan Lang had actually managed to pull it off.

Only Ning Fan knew that the wolf demon who had devoured Lu Wu's corpse in the Heaven Hall and caused innumerable deaths within was the one and only Tan Lang!

Currently, Tan Lang had formed his own demon egg and was slumbering within the egg, trying to break free from his star spirit body. Hence, he was not someone Ning Fan had to be afraid of at the moment.

If it was just his Late Divine Transformation Realm incarnated souls, no matter how many of them came, he would slay them all!

The ship flew straight at the peak of the silver river, entering the Star Gate.

As soon as it landed on the ground and before Ning Fan could even store his ship, countless demon beasts which were at the Gold Core Realm and above immediately discovered them. Letting out bizarre howls and shouts, they initiated attacks on the ship from all directions. There were at least thousands of them.

'Die!"

Ning Fan's sword sense swept across the area. In an instant, all the Gold Core Realm demon beasts were shredded to pieces by his black-colored sword sense, filling the air with the stench of blood.

After keeping his ship, he cast his gaze to the northern direction. It was a place with innumerable ancient trees towering to the skies. In the deepest part within the forest, there seemed to be some kind of hidden historical remains.

"Is it right there…"

With a flick of his sleeve, Ning Fan displayed the divine ability of teleportation. Carrying every woman with his arms, he flew straight to the historical remains.

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

<strong>Note: </strong>

1. "Chicken ribs" means things of little value or interest.