Grasping Evil

A ray of light flashed by. Both Ning Fan and Su Yan appeared within the Yuan Yao World.

Ning Fan was working hard to stabilize the devil qi inside his body while Su Yan was looking at the green coffin within the medicine garden in front of her. She was slightly shocked by the sight of these things.

"A medicine garden and a green coffin? Who's sleeping inside the coffin?"

She wanted to ask but Ning Fan was not in the mood to answer her. He directly held her hands and flew towards the dark golden pagoda in the distance.

"The reason I brought you with me inside this world is to temporarily avoid confrontation. You aren't allowed to disturb her slumber." Ning Fan's voice was flat and it sounded like he would not take no for an answer.

"Alright." Su Yan replied. Her curiosity for the person sleeping inside the coffin grew stronger but she tactfully behaved and stopped asking Ning Fan about her.

When she mentioned the green coffin earlier, Ning Fan's expression became serious and all traces of mischief disappeared from his face.

Su Yan had the uncanny sixth sense which all women had. She could faintly tell from Ning Fan's expression that the person sleeping inside the coffin was a lady who was of great importance to him.

"He's so concerned about her. Is she one of his women…?" Without realizing it herself, Su Yan's expression was filled with a hint of envy for the sleeping Mu Weiliang just as that thought rose within her mind.

The two of them went straight into the dark golden pagoda. The moment they set foot inside, Ning Fan locked the gate to prevent Su Yan from running around inside the Yuan Yao World and causing unnecessary trouble.

"This dark golden pagoda is a time cultivation magic treasure. You can at most go up to the fourth floor where time flows 16 times slower than the time in the world. You can heal your wounds or cultivate inside 16 times faster than normal. As for the fifth floor and above, you can't ascend there without my permission. Moreover, even if you do manage to get up there, you won't be able to enjoy slowed down time for your cultivation. I need to go to a floor beyond the fourth floor to sort out some problems with my body. After I finish dealing with these issues, I will bring you with me and kill our way out of the broken world. You'll wait for me right here."

As soon as Ning Fan finished speaking, he left some pills for Su Yan and ascended to the fifth floor alone.

"A time cultivation magic treasure? Just a while ago, I heard that King Lan Ling clashed with the Ghost Eye Clan. The clan lost their devil slate, the devil concubine, countless immortal jade and spiritual medicine whereas King Lan Ling also lost a pagoda with that kind of function. Could this pagoda be the one King Lan Ling lost?!"

Su Yan was overwhelmed with surprise. She then continued to speculate inwardly: was Ning Fan really the one pulling the strings behind the clash between King Lan Ling and the Ghost Eye Clan?

She had too many things she wanted to ask Ning Fan. He just held too many mysteries. She found it harder to understand his real thoughts the more she got closer to him.

Her mind was filled with confusion. Since she already knew so many of Ning Fan's secrets, it would be difficult for her to decide where to draw a line in their relationship.

According to the habits of devil cultivators, once you know their secrets, they would either search your souls and memories to eliminate any witnesses or plant a mental seal on you to shut you up…

"I wonder how he will deal with me. With the strength and techniques that he has displayed so far, he could even escape from 15 Void Refinement Realm beings with ease. I am certainly not his match… Besides, I owe him my life. Even if he wants to plant a mental seal on me to make me his slave, it's still within reason… He has been claiming that I am his devil concubine and he is my master. If that's the case, he has already treated me like one of his own from the very beginning…"

"However, I am a dignified leader of a clan. Am I really going to become his devil concubine…? I can't just leave my dignity behind like this…"

Su Yan's thoughts became even more mixed-up. She did not like being placed in a position where she was below someone. Ning Fan, however, seemed to be an exception to her.

Too many things happened today which made her mind and emotions unsettled.

When she thought of Ning Fan whose condition was extremely unstable after triggering the abnormal phenomenon, she was somewhat worried about him.

"Whether or not the rebels will be dealt with in the future or if I can really get my revenge when I get out of here, I am no longer willing to sacrifice everything just to protect the Mist Horn Clan."

"I gave my all for the clan but all I received was their betrayal. When I was on the verge of dying, he was the one who saved my life... If he can get through these difficult times safely, so what if I have to forget about my own dignity and become his devil concubine? I hope he will be fine."

…

On the seventh floor of the dark golden pagoda, the time was 128 times slower than the time in the outside world.

Ning Fan's devil marks were close to achieving an advancement. As his body continued to gradually assimilate the fourth devil qi, qualitative changes began to appear on his devil marks.

A rush of massive aura force rose within his body but it was still faintly discernible.

The Mo Luo Blood inside his dantian was boiling.

"I want to attain the Golden Body Refining Realm!" Ning Fan's eyes flashed with determination and had a presence that gave off an indomitable spirit as if once he had made a decision, he would never turn back!

Meanwhile, in the Devil World, the strongest world of the Nine Worlds, a grand event was being held in the Ghost Palace.

The Rain World had one sovereign while the Sword World had three. The Devil World, on the other hand, had nine sovereigns in total. In the Devil World, other than the nine great devil sovereigns, there were nine great devil palaces which were similar to the Rain Palace. However, each of the palaces' forces was not something the Rain Palace could compare to.

The Ghost Palace was one of them whereas the Ghost Sovereign was one of the nine sovereigns of the Devil World.

A grand event was being held in the Extreme Ghost Country where the Ghost Palace was located. All the prodigies and outstanding talents in the Devil World were attempting to awaken their ancient devil bloodlines there.

The current organizer of this event was the Ghost Sovereign but the other eight devil sovereigns also came to the Ghost Palace to spectate. Moksha Sovereign was one of them.

Apart from the nine devil sovereigns, countless forces in the Devil World had also sent their members to participate in this event, trying to recruit outstanding devil cultivators.

The purpose of this grand event was to discover devil cultivators whose devil bloodlines were above the incomplete grade.

The ancient devil cultivation system had already disappeared for a long time. The devil race was different from the demon race. There were no tribes or ethnic to strictly maintain their tradition. Thus, devil bloodlines were extremely difficult to pass down.

But in the long course of history, a few outstanding beings would occasionally appear occasionally and awaken their incomplete ancient devil bloodlines by accident. Some of them might even attain true ancient devil bloodlines.

Ancient devil bloodlines were divided into five different levels, just like demon bloodlines. The ones with common bloodlines were called Mortal Devil. Those with incomplete bloodlines were called Profound Devil. Those with true bloodlines were deemed as True Devils. As for those who possessed royal bloodlines, they were called King Devils while the ones with ancestral bloodlines were regarded as Ancestral Devils.

Strictly speaking, all of the devil cultivators who practiced devil cultivation methods and followed the Devil Dao would have common devil bloodlines which were also known as Mortal Devil Grade bloodlines.

Those prodigious devil cultivators who manage to awaken incomplete grade devil bloodlines in a grand event like this would be recruited by great forces. Some of the forces would even fight over new recruits.

If someone awakens a true devil bloodline, they would be accepted as disciples by the nine great devil sovereigns who would impart their lifetime's worth of knowledge to them.

It was because the nine great devil sovereigns including Moksha Sovereign were devil cultivators who had true devil bloodlines!

Moksha Sovereign, in particular, had the highest potential with regards to devil bloodlines. He was the only devil cultivator in the mortal world whose bloodline was the closest to the royal grade. The reason behind his current achievements were all because many great devil lords from the upper world had a liking for him.

In the demon race, cultivators with true demon bloodlines might not be rare to find. However, in the devil race which had lost the 'blood', each possessor of the true devil bloodlines were beings who would be famous far and wide in the future.

In the Devil World of mortal world, the probability of having a devil cultivator with incomplete grade devil bloodlines was roughly one in a million.

As for true devil bloodlines, only one out of one million devil cultivators with incomplete bloodlines would be blessed with this kind of opportunity.

In the Nine Great Ancient Devil Pools, the Devil World of the upper world, devil cultivators with true devil bloodlines were also as rare as a phoenix's feather. As for those who possessed royal grade bloodlines, they would certainly become terrifying devil lords whose name would shake the Four Heavens after cultivating for tens of thousands of years!

To the Devil World of the mortal world, royal grade bloodlines was merely an unreachable dream.

It was already lucky that the nine devil sovereigns have disciples with true devil bloodlines to accept. A disciple like that was definitely worth giving their all to raise and instruct.

Moreover, it was also a wonderful thing to recruit devil cultivators with incomplete bloodlines as they would be fresh blood for each of the sovereign's respective forces.

"Hehe. The 'Blood Ceremony' is only held once in a hundred years. I wonder if we can discover a few devil cultivators with true bloodlines on this occasion. It really excites me." A devil sovereign exuding immense ghost qi smiled evilly. He was none other than the organizer of this time's Blood Ceremony, the one and only Ghost Sovereign.

"A few of them? Ghost Sovereign really likes to joke around. We are in the mortal world, not the Devil Pond of the Upper World. We don't have such a deep background like them. It's already extremely rare to have one cultivator with true bloodline in one hundred years." Another devil sovereign who was clad in blood-red armor shook his head disapprovingly. He was also one of the nine sovereigns with the title of 'Blood Sovereign'.

"…" Moksha Sovereign closed his eyes without speaking a single word since the beginning. The injuries he got inflicted with in the past had already healed completely. Besides, with the help of his Nirvana Devil Veins, his cultivation level had progressed quite a lot due to those injuries.

He was not the strongest among the nine sovereigns but he was the one with the highest potential.

He had his own pride. He had already forgotten about the insignificant young man who defied him in Seven Apricot City last time. He was disdainful to even pay any attention to that man as he was clearly nothing to him.

The only thing that he still remembered to this today was the sword sheath the young man had held that day. Just a trace of an ancient sword qi actually managed to injure him. The sword qi clearly had a remarkable origin. After investigating it, Moksha Sovereign ascertained that it was the sword qi left by the Sword Ancestor of the Sword World.

What a terrifying person the Sword Ancestor was. Just his remnant sword qi carried a destructive power comparable to an attack from Moksha Sovereign. It fell to Ning Fan's hands at that time when he used it to display a heaven-defying might against him.

Moksha Emperor could not imagine why a Harmonious Spirit Realm young man like Ning Fan would possess such a precious sword qi to protect himself.

Who gave that sword qi to Ning Fan? It could not be Old Devil. Old Devil lost his storage pouch in the Upper World a long time ago. He never brought any magic treasure when he descended from the Upper World.

Did those from the Sword World give it to him? But even the three sovereigns of the Sword World would obviously treat this sword qi as a supreme treasure. It was impossible for them to hand it over to him.

This question had been troubling Moksha Sovereign for countless years. The reason why he did not finish off Old Devil and Ning Fan that day was not just because of the White Devil Sect's order to spare Old Devil but also the fear he had of the person who gave that sword sheath to Ning Fan.

However, Moksha Sovereign would never be able to imagine even in his dreams that the sword sheath was actually something the Godly Void Pavilion's Little Demoness gave to Ning Fan 'on purpose'. With the background and resources of her Godly Void Pavilion, it was not that hard for her to get this kind of precious sword qi.

Moksha Sovereign had no idea of this and neither Ning Fan was aware of it. As a matter of fact, she did it out of kindness. She had already foreseen that Moksha Sovereign would find them after Old Devil had recovered from his injuries. Thus, she borrowed Ning Fan's hands to use the ancient sword qi to deter Moksha Sovereign.

Well, Moksha Sovereign had already thrown that past incident at the back of his mind.

At present, he was focused on achieving the Sixth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm as soon as possible and was not concerned in anything else, including this so-called Blood Ceremony.

There were nine gigantic devil statues standing in the center of the venue. All of them were being worshipped by countless devil cultivators. They were statues of the nine great devil ancestors based on ancient sayings and were used for awakening the ancient devil bloodlines of the devil cultivators.

All of a sudden, the nine devil statues lightly trembled. They all temporarily lost the ability to awaken one's devil bloodline.

As for the vast heavens above the Extreme Ghost Country, they began to crack as thick black fluid which looked like black blood flowed out from those very cracks.

Countless devil cultivators were instantly shocked. The entire Blood Ceremony was forced to stop.

Countless Gold Core Realm and Nascent Soul Realm cultivators gazed at the sky in confusion. They did not understand what was going on.

Countless Divine Transformation Realm and Void Refinement Realm old monsters, on the other hand, were too shocked to even say a word when they raised their heads and looked at the bleeding from the cracks in the skies as they had a brief understanding about that phenomenon.

The nine great devil sovereigns rose to their feet in surprise. Even the Moksha Sovereign's eyes widened in shock. Disbelief filled their eyes as they stared at the abnormal phenomenon in the sky.

"Devil blood dying the blue sky!"

There was no way the Moksha Sovereign would not be startled. The abnormal phenomenon of devil blood dying the blue sky rarely occurred. In the history of the devil race, something extremely great and serious has happened every time this phenomenon appeared.

When this phenomenon occurred in front of the nine great devil ancestral statues of the mortal world, there was another meaning to it… Only important people like the nine sovereigns were privy to what it meant.

Somewhere in the Nine Worlds of the mortal world, a devil cultivator was about to awaken his royal grade devil bloodline!

"Impossible! How could there be a King Devil in this lowly mortal world?! How could it be possible?!" The Blood Sovereign found it extremely shocking and incomprehensible.

"Who is it?! I must find that person. I must keep him as my disciple!" The Ghost Sovereign was overwhelmed with excitement.

Everyone was excitedly guessing who that person was and where he originated from. They were eager to know whether he would succeed or fail in his attempt to awaken the royal bloodline.

At this moment, a gigantic shadow of a white-robed young man suddenly appeared in the middle of the abnormal phenomenon in the skies.

It just showed the back of the young man which made his appearance indiscernible.

That shadow filled countless devil cultivators with disappointment as they could not identify who it was.

To Moksha Sovereign, however, it gave him an eerie sense of familiarity, as if he had met him somewhere before.

At that moment, a feeling of unease rose within his heart. Throughout the innumerable years he had spent cultivating his Devil Dao, he rarely had such a feeling.

No, he did not have any intention of finding that young man and making him his disciple.

In his mind, there was only the feeling of discomfort which grew more and more intense.

"Who is this man…?! I must have met him somewhere in the past!"

Inadvertently, memories of a trivial matter suddenly flashed across his mind.

It was his memories of punishing a bunch of ants in Seven Apricot City. Among those insignificant ants, there seemed to be a young man whose back resembles this white-robed young man quite a lot.

"No. It can't be him. I didn't even bother to remember the name of a lowly ant like him…"

Moksha Sovereign smirked disdainfully and went back to his seat. He shut his eyes to refresh his mind.

The lowly ant in Moksha Sovereign's mind was just a Harmonious Spirit Realm junior. If it wasn't for his ancient sword qi, Moksha Sovereign would find it beneath him to keep the slightest trace of memory of that ant.

"Everyone below the Void Fragmentation Realm are mere ants. That Harmonious Spirit Realm junior won't be able to touch the lower hem of my clothes in his entire lifetime. He is nothing! Besides, the appearance of this abnormal phenomenon merely indicates the birth of a King Devil in the Nine Worlds. That person might not necessarily succeed. Devil cultivators with royal bloodlines are extremely rare. How could they even be born in the Nine Worlds of the mortal world in the first place?"

Just as Sovereign Moksha was muttering to himself, the phenomenon in the skies intensified. It signaled that the devil cultivator who was in the midst of awakening his royal bloodline was already close to succeeding.

Moksha Sovereign's eyes turned gloomy. He was the sovereign with the strongest devil bloodline in the mortal world.

If someone in the mortal world obtains the royal bloodline, wouldn't it mean that that person surpasses him in terms of the strength of their devil bloodlines?

"It's certainly impossible for that man to succeed!"

Moksha Sovereign's face was ghastly pale. He did not want anyone to threaten his status of being the person with the strongest bloodline!

*Bang*

Below the skies, the phenomenon became even fiercer. All of the black blood which flowed out from the cracks in the skies went into the shadow of the white-robed young man, greatly boosting his aura force. The devil might he exuded was frighteningly immense.

Countless devil cultivators could feel a strong pressure from his bloodline.

Even the nine sovereigns of the Devil World felt that their bloodlines were a grade lower than the young man's shadow.

Then, a black ray shot out from the body of the white-robed young man. At the next moment, it shook the entire Devil World!

Old chanting voices of the devil scripture resounded across the skies.

At this moment, countless devil cultivators cried out in excitement.

"It's the royal bloodline! This man has successfully obtained the royal bloodline!"

*Peng*

Moksha Sovereign slammed the jade table beside him and stood up in disbelief. Jealousy and discontentment filled his heart.

There was actually someone in the Nine Worlds of the mortal world whose devil bloodline's potential surpassed his.

How is this possible? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!

"This man is definitely not a devil cultivator of the mortal world. He must be a devil lord from the upper world who has descended to the mortal world to awaken his bloodline. Yes, that must be it!"

"I don't believe that there is someone in the mortal world who has a devil bloodline that has greater potential than mine!"

…

Ning Fan had no idea that the phenomenon he triggered had spread in the Devil World, arousing strong discontentment within Moksha Sovereign.

The current him was gradually digesting the fourth devil qi.

His whole body was covered in golden light and he could now attempt to break through to the Golden Body Refining Realm anytime.

The devil marks on his back had completely advanced to the Marshal Rank and possessed four different symbols which were a giant devil, six wings, a mist horn and a ghost eye.

His devil marks were now officially at the Marshal Rank called Mo Luo Devil Marks!

The moment his devil marks advanced to the Marshal Rank, he felt his bloodline burn hot and it also advanced to the fourth level. He was now a King Devil with a royal grade devil bloodline!

However, he was completely unaware of the commotion he had caused after attaining the royal bloodline of the devil race and becoming a King Devil.

He focused all of his attention on breaking through to the Golden Body Refining Realm. He knew that having the Mo Luo Devil Marks was not enough. The devil marks and the art of engraving devil marks were only imitations of the Ancient Devil Ancestral Talisman after all.

Even though devil cultivators with incomplete bloodlines or true bloodlines occasionally appeared in the current era, none of them deserved to be regarded as an ancient devil because they did not possess the devil talisman!

As for the ancestral talisman, it was a devil talisman which stood above countless devil talismans!

"Before attaining the Golden Body Refining Realm, I must cultivate my Mo Luo Devil Marks into the Mo Luo Ancestral Talisman using the Ancestral Talisman Blood Refinement Technique! I will use the power of the ancestral talisman to assimilate the Mo Luo Blood. I will use countless pills and heavenly and earthly treasures to pave a way to the Golden Body Refining Realm!"

"Besides, I not only want to achieve the Golden Body Refining Realm this time but I also want to step into the cultivation path of the ancient devils using the power of the ancestral talisman to truly become an ancient devil!"

"Since I, Ning Fan, has chosen the Devil Dao, I will strive to become the strongest devil beneath the heavens!"

"No devils exist before me and neither will there be devils born after me!"

"If I want the devils to perish, there shall be none under the heavens! If I want the devils to exist, the heavens must allow their existence!"

"Refine!"

Ning Fan suddenly made a different hand seal while murmuring the devil scripture on the four devil slates.

The four symbols on the devil marks on his back seemed to have suddenly come to life and began moving on his body.

A hole opened up in his chest. The wound looked terrible but no fresh blood was flowing out of it.

The hole then grew larger and larger, like it was going to completely tear Ning Fan apart!

A strong sensation of hunger and thirst washed over him, turning his eyes blood-red. What he was thirsting for was not water but blood.

"Blood! As an ancient devil, only 'blood' can fill the hole in my physical body and retrieve the lost glory of my devil race!"

"I need blood! Give me… BLOOD!"

Ning Fan's eyes were bloodshot. The moment he uttered those words, the abnormal phenomenon in the sky became even more intense.

Countless black blood flowed out from the skies, turning into devil qi which went into Ning Fan's body. That scene was particularly bizarre.

A mysterious dark golden rune formed a large vortex on the center of his right palm. As it continued to condense, the power fluctuations it released became even greater…

It was the talisman of the Ancestral Devils!

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