Grasping Evil

The Fu Li Eyes gave him extraordinarily keen vision. Thus, Ning Fan had quickly seen through the profoundness of Revered Flame's flying sword without needing Bei Xiaoman's warning.

That fiery-red flying sword was a Peak Divine Transformation Realm Spiritual Treasure. It was augmented with two great divine abilities: teleportation and shadow cutting.

Revered Flame was not a sword cultivator, but a fire cultivator instead. The flying sword he had was just for the sole purpose of performing sneak attacks.

After flickering several times, it was now a few inches away from Ning Fan's shadow on the ground.

Once it cuts through Ning Fan's shadow, his true body would also be cut. In a way, Shadow Cut was nearly the same as the ability of killing one's nascent soul by striking their treasures.

Bei Xiaoman was really nervous. The two blood-red stars between her glabella slowly emerged. She raised her delicate hand and a trace of blood red light revolved around her finger. She was ready to help Ning Fan at any time.

However, before Bei Xiaoman could even act, that fiery-red flying sword suddenly stopped and trembled, as if it was being blocked by something. Taking a closer look, one would be able to see that it was being struck by a ray of starlight.

That ray of starlight was the Separation Slayer Sword which Ning Fan summoned with a snap of his finger. After Ning Fan comprehended his sword intent, the might of his sword was definitely beyond compare.

*Clang*

The sound of breaking metal was heard. The fiery-red flying sword was actually crushed by the sword shadow glowing in starlight after a single collision.

Afterwards, that ray of starlight returned to Ning Fan and hovered around his body. His eyes were vivid black as he indifferently glanced at Revered Flame.

"That's not the correct way to wield a flying sword… Appear!"

As soon as Ning Fan performed a series of hand seals, the sword shadow that was emanating starlight around his body instantly split into ten thousand sword shadows. They whistled across the sky and rained down on Revered Flame.

Ning Fan rarely killed his enemies using techniques involving flying swords. However, it did not mean that he was not proficient in them.

Especially after he comprehended the Immortal Entrapping Sword Intent with the help of a broken piece of the sword, he was able to display the power of the flying sword to its full potential.

"What a domineering sword intent!"

Even the two hidden Void Refinement Realm experts of the Rain Palace could not help but secretly praise him.

Ning Fan's sword intent emanated the haughtiness and dominance of entrapping an immortal being. It was the sword intent of an overlord. Both the Void Refinement Realm experts felt it difficult to breathe by just watching the battle from a distance.

The two of them could not help but begin to guess Ning Fan's background.

Zhou Ming, a powerful expert from the Endless Sea who has a Void Refinement Realm expert as a guardian... Could it be that he's a member of the Zhou Family of the Internal Endless Sea?

However, in regards to the information about the Zhou Family of the Internal Endless Sea, the Rain Palace has always been keeping a close grasp of it. There was absolutely no such genius like Ning Fan!

"What's the origin of this young man…?" The two Void Refinement Realm experts began to speculate Ning Fan's identity once more.

The domineering force from Ning Fan's sword intent swept across the streets. All the cultivators spectating the battle drew back again to distance themselves from the battlefield.

Even Revered Flame felt a tingling sensation on his scalp when faced with ten thousand sword shadows.

He was an expert strong enough to burn an ordinary Half-Step Void Refinement Realm expert to death. He had also seen countless sword cultivators who could behead someone with flying swords.

Among the Divine Transformation Realm sword cultivators that he had met before, Ning Fan's flying sword techniques would definitely rank in the top three. Furthermore, Revered Flame also knew that flying sword techniques were not Ning Fan's forte at all.

"I seem to have underestimated this man…"

For the first time, Revered Flame frowned and regarded Ning Fan as a worthy opponent. He patted his storage pouch and produced a handful of red sand. He then sprinkled it into the sky. The sand glittered in blood red as it drifted in the sky.

When the sky was covered by the red sand, countless sword shadows that entered the hazy area crumbled and disintegrated.

The true body of the Separation Slayer Sword began to tremble violently after it was affected by the red sand. However, it managed to stay in one piece without breaking.

"An Immemorial Divine Weapon…?"

Revered Flame knitted his brows even tighter. He originally planned to break Ning Fan's flying sword with that handful of red sand as revenge for his broken sword, but it ended up fruitless.

After their first clash, Ning Fan was unscathed but Revered Flame's flying sword was broken. Thus, Revered Flame was at a disadvantage.

"It's the Bloor Star Sand! It's Revered Flame's natal magical treasure. The blood sand was refined using the Immemorial Star Iron and specializes in destroying all kinds of magical treasures!"

"An Immemorial Divine Weapon! The flying sword being held by Venerated Ming is also an Immemorial Divine Weapon! According to hearsay, not only can an Immemorial Divine Weapon level-up, but it's also firm and indestructible. If Venerated Ming's flying sword is just an ordinary sword, it might have been destroyed by this Blood Star Sand… It's indeed a divine weapon!"

The clamors of comments of the cultivators echoed into Ning Fan's ears and his expression turned serious after hearing them.

"I see."

So that's why this red sand is so powerful that it can break the sword shadows of my flying sword. So this is Revered Flame's natal magical treasure.

If it's a magical treasure…

The shadow of the Separation Slayer Sword was already back to Ning Fan and revolved around him, but he pressed his finger against his glabella again and produced a blood-red whip with lightning rays flashing around it.

Looking at the red sand which filled the vast sky, Ning Fan violently lashed the area with his blood-red whip. In one go, he made one hundred lashes.

Each shadow of the whiplash was like a blood-red thunderbolt. When one hundred blood-red thunderbolts struck the red sand, it was quite an impressive sight.

But Revered Flame just made a cold sneer when he saw that.

In his eyes, he thought that Ning Fan was simply sending more magical treasures for him to crush as he still dared to wield a magical treasure after witnessing the strength of the Blood Star Sand.

"Crush!"

Revered Flame raised his brows and changed his hand seal. The one hundred blood-red thunderbolts were suddenly submerged into the billow of red sand.

At first glance, he recognized that the blood-red lightning whip was just a spiritual treasure which was not worth worrying about.

As the bloody sand engulfed the thunderbolts of the whip, each of the thunderbolts collapsed one after another. However, before Revered Flame could feel pleased with himself, his expression changed.

When the one hundred whiplashes struck the bloody sand, they seemed to have lashed right at Revered Flame's primordial spirit.

After having his primordial spirit whipped a hundred times by Ning Fan, he abruptly spat out blood and lost his balance, making him nearly fall down from the sky... The damage he suffered was definitely severe.

At the moment Revered Flame was injured, Ning Fan flicked his sleeve and conjured a gust of wind which carried the bloody sand all over the sky to him. He took advantage of the opportunity when Revered Flame was distracted and forcibly seized the latter's natal magical treasure!

Generally, a cultivator's natal magical treasure could only be used by the owner himself and others would never be able to wield it at will.

But Ning Fan was different.

After gathering the Blood Star Sand in his hand, Ning Fan mustered a golden purple mist which rose on the tip of his finger and directed it at the bloody sand.

A hissing noise was heard. Without much difficulty, the spirit sense mark which was planted by Revered Flame onto the bloody sand was erased by Ning Fan.

*Puke*

Before Revered Flame could stabilize himself, a sharp pain assailed his Sea of Consciousness as the spirit sense mark on his magical treasure was suddenly erased. He fell to his knees in the middle of the sky and vomited fresh blood. His expression was a mixture of fear and fury.

"'White Lightning Spirit Crushing Technique'! It can't be wrong! It's not an ordinary thunderbolt of the Zhou Family! Who are you to Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou?! Why did you seize my natal magical treasure?!"

Hatred overwhelmed Revered Flame. There were already rumors in the Endless Sea about Ning Fan's technique that killed one's nascent soul by striking their treasures. However, at the end of the day, a technique like that was not foreign to the cultivators of the Endless Sea as many cultivators of the Zhou Family who practiced lightning elements were able to perform it.

What's beyond Revered Flame's imagination was that none of the cultivators of the Zhou Family had thunderbolts as domineering as Ning Fan's. It was absolutely not an ordinary thunderbolt. The power of the blood-red thunderbolt was like that of the Heavenly Lightning Tribulation which was difficult to resist.

In the history of the Zhou Family of the Internal Endless Sea, there was only one person who wielded blood-red thunderbolts and that person was Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou!

In the Endless Sea, there had been rumors claiming that Zhou Ming was a member of the Zhou Family. But this matter was confirmed to be a false rumor after the Zhou Family's genius, Zhou Qing, had clarified.

Therefore, Revered Flame was even more convinced that there was absolutely no such person like Ning Fan in the Zhou Family of the Internal Endless Sea.

But Ning Fan could actually perform the techniques of blood-red thunderbolts which once belonged to the Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou.

Is it just a coincidence? No! How could there be such a coincidence in this world!

The two hidden Void Refinement Realm experts of the Rain Palace had almost the same thought as Revered Flame.

Originally, they were speculating at Ning Fan's identity. After witnessing the blood-red thunderbolts, they were more convinced of Ning Fan being a member of the Zhou Family.

As for why there is no one like Zhou Ming in the information provided by the Rain Palace…

The two Void Refinement Realm experts thought about it carefully and made some secret guesses.

Perhaps this Zhou Ming is very important to the Zhou Family, so important that his existence has to be covered up and concealed from the Rain Palace's knowledge.

The more the two Void Refinement Realm experts thought, the more they felt that their guess was correct.

In that way, it was explainable as to why Ning Fan would have a Void Refinement Realm expert protecting him.

From their point of view, that hidden Void Refinement Realm expert must also be a Void Refinement Realm elder of the Zhou Family. It's just that they had no idea which elder it was.

"Hmph! The Zhou Family has an agreement with our Rain Palace that Half-Step Void Refinement Realm experts and above must never leave the Internal Endless Sea without authorization. How dare they violate the agreement?! It seems that it's necessary for us to report this matter to the Divine Sovereign!"

After making some wild guesses, the two experts deviated even more from the truth.

"We must find out which elder of the Zhou Family is protecting this Zhou Ming!"

Ning Fan certainly had no idea what the hidden Void Refinement Realm experts were thinking. Sneak attacking Revered Flame with the Spirit Fragmentation Whip happened in just a matter of seconds.

Seeing Revered Flame was injured, Ning Fan took advantage of the situation and seized the Blood Star Sand by force without even giving Revered Flame a chance to breathe. His Fu Li Wings stretched out and he vigorously beat his wings once. In a flash of purple light, Ning Fan's figure was nowhere to be found.

"His speed is incredibly fast… It's bad! Yun Yan, look out to your back!"

At this moment, the expressions of the two hidden Void Refinement Realm experts changed drastically and they no longer concealed their presence. They appeared in midair and shouted at Revered Flame to warn the latter.

Fast! It's too fast!

When travelling with his Fu Li Wings, Ning Fan's speed was almost on par with the speed of a Void Refinement Realm expert. Revered Flame was unable to respond to his impressive speed which allowed him to travel for ninety thousand li* (500m per li) in an instant. Only the two Void Refinement Realm experts could detect the direction where Ning Fan was heading to.

All of a sudden, the hairs on Revered Flame's back stood up and he felt immense chills running down his spine. When he heard the two Void Refinement Realm experts who were shouting warnings at him, he lost his composure and hurriedly turned around, unleashing the power of his spirit sense to its maximum. Then, a spark of fire glittered in midair and erupted into a column of flames in a single moment, burning the sky within a vicinity of ten thousand li* (500m per li)!

In the sea of flames, a figure in white robes appeared. However, before he could perform a stealth attack on Revered Flame, he was already engulfed by the flames.

It's fire sense! The spirit sense made up of flames!

Ning Fan had refined his Sea of Consciousness into the shape of a sword and condensed sword sense. This Revered Flame, however, had managed to turn his Sea of Consciousness into flames and condensed fire sense.

When he performs the Art of Sword Sense with his Half-Step Void Refinement Realm spirit sense, it could even inflict severe damage on ordinary Half-Step Void Refinement Realm experts.

Although Revered Flame was extremely arrogant, his strength and power were amazingly strong as well. Compared to Dong Xu who had yet to attain the Void Refinement Realm, he was at least several times stronger!

After using his fire sense, he spat out blood once more as it was rather taxing for him to do so without suppressing his injuries. Even so, he was certain that Ning Fan must have been seriously injured by his fire sense.

"'Burning Sky Fire Sense'! This is the technique that made Revered Flame famous. He had once used this technique to literally burn a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm expert to death!"

"I heard rumors saying that Venerated Ming also has a unique type of spirit sense which he comprehended by chance. It's said to be sword sense. However, I'm afraid that Venerated Ming's sword sense isn't as powerful as Revered Flame's fire sense. One should know that once Revered Flame's fire sense is unleashed, everything and everyone below the Early Divine Transformation Realm within the vicinity of fifty thousand li* (500m per li) would be instantly killed and burnt to ashes!"

Bei Xiaoman's eyes flashed with a hint of worry. She was not even afraid of the Daoist child, Yi Qing, but she was fearful of Revered Flame. What she feared the most was his Art of Fire Sense that he had used just now.

In regards to the methods that kill and inflict damage on a large scale, Revered Flame could be ranked first among all Divine Transformation Realm experts in the Rain World!

"No! I haven't settled my old scores with him. He can't just die like this! No way!"

Anxiety took control of Bei Xiaoman. She took a step forward and was about to fly into the sky.

She clearly hated Ning Fan to the marrow of her bones, but when she saw Ning Fan being engulfed by the column of flames, she just could not stop feeling anxious and worried.

She did not like the anxious and tense feeling that she was experiencing. She disliked it a lot.

She had the urge to pull Ning Fan out of the sea of flames!

*Boom*

Before Bei Xiaoman could rush into the sea of flames, she froze at the same spot and her eyes widened with shock.

She saw the sea of flames that was powerful enough to instantly kill an Early Divine Transformation Realm expert being parted by a mysterious force.

Ning Fan, who wore a set of white robes and had a set of demonic purple wings on his back, calmly walked across the flames. The raging fire eerily parted for him, as if it was afraid of him, not to mention burn him.

"How is this possible?!"

Revered Flame could not believe his eyes. Ning Fan came out unscathed from his fire sense which he unleashed using all of his strength. The destructive power of that attack which could put a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm expert in a grievous state did not even leave a scratch on Ning Fan!

The current Ning Fan who was standing amidst the flames crept Revered Flame out. The one hundred types of Fourth Grade spiritual flames and the three types of Earth Vein Demonic Flames in his dantian were flickering violently, as if they were afraid.

Overwhelming!

The current Ning Fan was like the king of flames who was impervious to any kinds of flames!

"'Fire Plucking Technique'!"

Ning Fan stretched his five fingers into the shape of a claw. Then, a small vortex with the pattern of the Yin Yang Fish formed under his palm.

As soon as the vortex appeared, a bizarre and terrifying suction force rose and absorbed every last bit of flames which occupied the vicinity of ten thousand li* (500m per li).

No one knew that the so-called all-out strike of Revered Flame had become nourishment for the Stele of Sun and Moon in Ning Fan's Profound Yin World which replenished the soul of the stele!

Dead silence fell upon the group of onlookers. Each and every one of them was astonished by the sight before their eyes.

The two Void Refinement Realm experts were also stunned. They absolutely could not believe what they had seen. To them, it was just unimaginable, too unimaginable!

They inwardly admitted that it was not difficult to ward off Revered Flame's fire sense with their Void Refinement Realm cultivation base.

But what they could do at most was neutralize it!

The divine ability that Ning Fan used did not just neutralize the fire sense, but it seemed like his ability existed specially to restrain flames!

No. Restraining was not the right word to describe how it devoured the flames… To be more precise, it was like… plucking it!

Yes, it's plucking! It was like how a cultivator plucked his human cauldron, greedily sapping everything out of her while she could not resist at all!

In an instant, innumerable thoughts filled the two experts' minds. However, they seemed to have recalled something and revealed a delighted look.

"Could it be that this Zhou Ming has a way to restrain flames?!"

"If that is the case, I'm afraid that only this man in the entire Rain World would be able to acquire 'that thing'!"

The two experts locked eyes with each other. Both of them were able to read each other's thoughts.

That thing they were talking about was located in an abyss filled with a sea of flames. Even Void Fragmentation Realm experts were unable to go in there and take it out.

Therefore, in order to acquire that thing, the Rain Palace purposely cultivated a practitioner of flames and provided him excellent treatments for his cultivation. They searched for Earth Vein Demonic Flames for him to devour, assigned Void Refinement Realm experts to protect him and even condoned him and his disciples in breaking the laws and behaving arrogantly.

However, even if they planned to rely on Revered Flame to acquire that thing, they needed to nurture him up to at least the Void Fragmentation Realm… But still, all of this was filled with too much uncertainty. Who could be sure that Revered Flame would successfully attain the Void Fragmentation Realm after thousands of years?

"If this Zhou Ming is willing to help the Rain Palace, why should we need Yun Yan?!"

"We can't let Yun Yan continue the fight with this Zhou Ming anymore. Once Yun Yan completely offends him, it will become even more difficult for us to rope him in to work for the Rain Palace."

The two experts stepped out and tried to stop the fight between Revered Flame and Ning Fan.

No one knew that these two Void Refinement Realm experts actually harbored the thought of befriending Ning Fan.

Ning Fan slowly kept the vortex beneath his palm and licked his lips like he had had a delicious meal. The fire sense which contained such a pure power of flames had filled up at least 10% of the soul of the Stele of Sun and Moon.

He did not plan to continue fighting and take Revered Flame's life. After striking the latter's primordial spirit, seizing his natal magical treasure and devouring his fire sense, Ning Fan had already severely wounded Revered Flame.

With Ning Fan's personality, he would never let his enemies live. However, it would be unwise to kill Revered Flame in front of the eyes of thousands of cultivators and offend the Rain Palace.

Even if he really wants to kill him, it would be better to do it somewhere more private…

"Hand over the three types of Earth Vein Demonic Flames." Ning Fan's cold voice sounded like there was no room for rejection.

"Impossible! Don't you ever think about it! Haha! You can never take my place, never!"

Revered Flame seemed to have gone insane. There was never a time where he harbored such a strong intent to kill Ning Fan before.

In the past, he only wanted to kill him for his flames. Now, however, he just wanted to kill Ning Fan to impede a future disaster!

Ning Fan threatened his position in the Rain Palace! It was because Ning Fan was the king of flames who did not fear any types of flames.

If he is alive, the Rain Palace will no longer need me and I will lose all the supplies and privileges given by the Rain Palace!

"Art of Void Flame, Samadhi Fire Palm!"

Revered Flame's eyes were bloodshot. There was only one thought in his mind: he must kill Ning Fan before the two Void Refinement Realm experts befriend him!

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

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