Grasping Evil

Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong's appearance gradually became younger and he eventually turned into a refined young man with a cold expression.

He had been born in an ancient immortal domain. He had stepped into the path of cultivation since birth and he already had access to countless cultivation resources at a young age which was supplied by his family. He still kept his young appearance even when he had attained the Reckless Devil Realm.

Compared to Ning Fan who entered the cultivation path halfway in his life, Mo Zhong started his journey much earlier and naturally had a higher and better starting point.

All of a sudden, two rays of light which were as dazzling as the sun shone within his cold piercing eyes.

His eyes gave off an extraordinary wave of pressure, just like the sunlight shining over the entire world and the radiance of the galaxy descending from the ninth heaven.

"When I was at the Early Reckless Devil Realm, the divine weapon I held was a Two-Star Divine Weapon called the Sad Devil Axe."

At this moment, it was impossible for Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong to forge the Sad Devil Axe on the spot to fight Ning Fan.

He lifted one of his fingers and the turbid sea of blood beneath his feet suddenly turned so clear that it could even show his own reflection.

As he willed it, the reflection on the sea of blood slowly presented an ink painting of his memories.

That painting in the water was a drawing of the scenery of an ancient immortal domain with the hazy figure of a young man in black robes holding an axe to fight others.

Mo Zhong reached out his hand towards the water and scooped something out like he was fishing the moon from its reflection on the water. Surprisingly, he actually took out the axe that was in the painting.

With a flick of his finger, the imaginary axe shadow gradually solidified and eventually became a real dark golden divine axe that was a Two-Star Divine Weapon. It was none other than the Sad Devil Axe that Mo Zhong had used in his youth.

"Transforming illusions into reality!"

Ning Fan's eyes turned solemn. The method Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong used to summon his Sad Devil Axe was actually the Transforming Illusions Into Reality Technique that only someone at the True Immortal Realm could do!

Being able to witness an ancient great immortal emperor display this kind of technique was certainly an extremely rare opportunity. It would be greatly beneficial to him in comprehending the word "truth" in the future!

"Let's begin."

Mo Zhong reminded Ning Fan and made a sudden step forward. His body dissipated into countless traces of smoke. The movement technique he had just used was doubtlessly the Void Teleportation Technique!

Mo Zhong who was at the Early Reckless Devil Realm already showed excellent talent in teleportation techniques as he could travel at a speed comparable to that of a Void Pierce Stage expert.

Ning Fan felt a massive sense of danger coming from his back. He activated both his demon eye and devil eye to their full capacity but he could only track down Mo Zhong's afterimage.

Without hesitation, Ning Fan summoned his Eight Black Burning Wings. As he flapped his wings, he turned into a ray of firelight and disappeared from his original spot.

Just a split second after he vanished, the shiny cutting edge of an axe cut through the air and slashed down at his back.

The force of that slash had cut the sea of blood which occupied hundreds of thousands of li* (500m per li) into two. The skies shattered into countless pieces under that strike!

The axe's single slash was strong enough to instantly kill a Void Inquiry Stage expert. Even Ning Fan's Primordial Lightning Armor might not necessarily be able to withstand the force of that attack!

"Your speed isn't half bad."

Mo Zhong revealed himself with an axe in his hand, complimenting him in a flat tone of voice. Ning Fan also showed himself around ten thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) away from Mo Zhong. His back was cold and wet.

Mo Zhong's actions were just too fast. If Ning Fan was slightly slower, he would have been severely injured by his axe…

Ning Fan did not dare to be complacent. He touched his glabella and the Separation Slayer Sword flew out in a ray of starlight, appearing in his hand.

Seeing that Ning Fan also had a Two-Star Divine Weapon, Mo Zhong slightly nodded his head in approval and charged at him directly.

"Sad Devil Axe: First Style — Strength!"

Mo Zhong raised his axe and focused his essence qi on the muscles and bones on his arm which held the weapon. He channeled the strength of his entire body into the Sad Devil Axe and fired it out in the next moment.

The initial destructive power of the axe was already capable of instantly killing a Void Inquiry Stage expert. When he used the axe's first technique to produce an astounding amount of power by utilizing the energy created through the sudden burst of his essence qi, it's power became comparable to an axe attack from a cultivator with the Third Level of the Golden Body Realm!

Ning Fan activated his devil eye and studied all the movements of Mo Zhong's essence qi.

It was a profound method of using one's essence qi. By pouring all of it into one's weapon, it could greatly boost the destructive power of the weapon in an instant.

Ning Fan raised his Separation Slayer Sword vertically. He mustered all of his body's essence qi from the golden orifices and focused it all in the muscles and bones of the hand he used to wield the sword.

The Separation Slayer Sword which was originally as light as a feather became heavier and was suddenly filled with power. Ning Fan made a swing and delivered a sword attack towards the Sad Devil Axe.

*Bang*

As the both attacks struck each other, Mo Zhong moved half a step backwards, amazed. Undoubtedly, he was amazed by the ability of Ning Fan's devil eye which allowed him to see through the movement of essence qi in others and imitate their techniques.

"Your devil eye isn't half bad." Mo Zhong said indifferently.

Even though he had also learned a similar ability that allowed him to steal techniques from others by peeking at their essence qi after becoming an immortal emperor, he definitely did not know any technique like this when he was still at the Reckless Devil Realm.

When Ning Fan received the impact from the force of Mo Zhong's axe, he was pushed tens of steps backwards. Many bones in his arm were fractured. The sudden explosive force of Mo Zhong's attack was too terrifying. Even though he had imitated him and used the same technique on him, he was still at a disadvantage.

Well, he certainly had no idea that Mo Zhong struck fear into countless Void Pierce Stage old monsters using this technique while he was at the Early Reckless Devil Realm.

Ning Fan's battle intent grew stronger. His eyes showed no sign of fear. He pointed a finger at the sky and ninety-nine black stars appeared. With his body basking in the starlight, the bone fractures were immediately healed.

He flapped his fire wings and approached Mo Zhong again. His actions slightly surprised Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong. The latter was not only surprised by his Black Star Technique but also with his spirit.

He had obviously suffered a minor loss in their earlier exchange but he was not frustrated. Instead, he still pressed on with even greater courage and will to fight Mo Zhong with sheer strength. He really was an audacious man.

"Strength!"

Ning Fan raised his Separation Slayer Sword, the weight of it making him feel like he was brandishing a mountain. When he activated his essence qi this time, he became more adept in controlling it. The strength he could unleash became greater.

With his black hair dancing wildly in the air, Mo Zhong lifted his axe once again which split the heavens apart and withstood the incoming Separation Slayer Sword from Ning Fan.

*Clang*

It was another collision between sword and axe. Mo Zhong moved back one step while Ning Fan retreated twenty steps.

Nearly at the same time they were both pushed backwards, Ning Fan dashed towards Mo Zhong again and swung his sword at the Sad Devil Axe.

After being sent backwards and charging forward over and over again, Ning Fan became more proficient in using "strength". During their final clash with their weapons, both he and Mo Zhong only moved back three steps. The strength he used had actually reached the same level as Mo Zhong's.

Since it was difficult for Mo Zhong to win against Ning Fan using his strength, he altered the flow of his essence qi and gathered them on his feet and the wrist that held the weapon.

"Sad Devil Axe: Second Style — Speed!"

*Chi*

All of a sudden, his movement speed got explosively boosted. Before his afterimage had even disappeared, his axe had already reached Ning Fan's head.

To say that the speed he wielded his axe was as fast as lightning was still an understatement.. There was no Void Inquiry Stage expert who would be able to vividly see his axe. Even though Ning Fan had activated his demon eye, devil eye and human eye all at once, he only managed to capture a shadow of the axe's trajectory.

For him, however, it was already enough to defend against that attack.

"Speed!"

After mastering the control of strength, Ning Fan became more and more skilled in using his essence qi. When he witnessed Mo Zhong using the second technique, he just copied him completely.

The Separation Slayer Sword was already very light in the first place. After using his essence qi to drastically enhance its speed, the sword light of the slash he made was slightly faster than the shadow of Mo Zhong's axe.

Just before Mo Zhong's axe landed on his head, he had already pointed the tip of his finger at the former's dantian, slightly piercing through his robes. Ning Fan would be able to cut his primordial spirit to pieces before his head could be split by his axe.

"You're pretty fast."

Mo Zhong was quite impressed. Even though it was common sense that an axe was slower than a sword, the fact that Ning Fan's moves were faster than him shocked him.

Mo Zhong literally stopped the movement of his axe and hurriedly got away from Ning Fan to evade his sword light, knowing that he could not outspeed him.

Then, he changed his essence qi once again. This time, he channeled every last bit of it into the edge of his axe.

"Sad Devil Axe: Third Style — Shadow!"

This time, Mo Zhong made a single cut in the air. It multiplied into forty-eight million axe shadows in the sky with every single one of them powerful enough to cut through a Golden Core Realm cultivator.

The total destructive power of forty-eight million axe shadows could instantly kill a Void Inquiry Stage expert!

Ning Fan's eyes turned serious. The third style that Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong used was nothing fancy. It was just maximizing the potential of the strength, speed and shadows of the axe. This technique was suitable in any kind of magic techniques and Devil Martial Arts. In a way, the level of this technique exemplified the so-called simplicity of the Great Dao.

Ning Fan brandished his sword light and a rush of quiet and somber sword intent rose around him.

Traces of sword shadows emerged beside the Separation Slayer Sword. It was none other than the technique which Ning Fan had not used in a long time – the Myriad Sword Style!

With a swing of his sword, Yun Tianjue could summon a hundred million sword shadows and it was not necessarily his limit.

In the past, Ning Fan could only summon ten million sword shadows at full power. Even so, it still made him capable of defeating Elder Xuan Yi in a single move.

Facing forty-eight million axe shadows from Mo Zhong, just having ten million sword shadows was far from enough.

Ning Fan recalled every single structure of the Myriad Sword Style. At the moment he noticed how Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong wielded his axe shadows, the structures became particularly clear.

There was no division between the righteous or devil paths in the Dao of Swords. No matter what kind of power a cultivator has, be it magic power or essence qi, anyone who could wield a sword would be able to use sword techniques.

All of a sudden, Ning Fan's understanding of the Myriad Sword Style took on another path, a path that was completely different from Yun Tianjue's Sword Dao.

Ning Fan infused his sword with all of his magic power and the Separation Slayer Sword divided into ten million sword shadows.

He then channeled all of his essence qi into the sword which caused his Separation Slayer Sword to produce another forty million sword shadows.

In terms of essence qi, Ning Fan might not be able to surpass Great Emperor Mo Zhong, the ancestor of the Devil Dao who founded the Devil Conferral Summit.

However, Ning Fan cultivated both the divine and devil paths. Having both Yin and Yang complementing each other, this allowed his sword to produce fifty million sword shadows, which was slightly more than Mo Zhong's axe shadows!

"Myriad Sword Style — Shadow!"

Ning Fan raised his sword and pointed it at the sky. The fifty million sword shadows and the forty-eight million axe shadows met. In just an instant, the victor and loser of the fight was revealed.

The axe shadows were completely crushed while Ning Fan still had two million sword shadows remaining which flew towards Mo Zhong directly.

Merely two million sword shadows obviously could not hurt Mo Zhong. However, it filled his eyes with seriousness.

Mo Zhong mastered the axe's three styles technique when he was young and he had used all of them on Ning Fan in the fight.

At first, the strength axe gained the advantage against him but Ning Fan evened it out by catching up with his very own 'strength'.

Then, the speed axe was literally outdone by the speed of Ning Fan's sword. Even so, there was no sign of defeat in his eyes.

The final shadow axe, however, instantly lost to Ning Fan's Myriad Sword Style. Even though it was just a small defeat, it was already adequate to prove that the younger version of him had suffered a loss to Ning Fan!

In the ancient immortal domain, there were one billion worlds. Mo Zhong was the immortal emperor in the world he resided in. He was the strongest expert there.

Moreover, among the immortal emperors of one billion worlds, he was ranked seventh.

There were only a handful of individuals who could make him suffer a small loss and those people were at the very least, outstanding immortal emperors at the same level as him.

As Ning Fan could push Mo Zhong this far, it meant that his innate potential already exceeded countless ancient immortal emperors!

"You've won against me in weapons. But axe techniques aren't something that I'm most skilled in."

Mo Zhong let go of his Sad Devil Axe and it immediately disappeared into nothingness since it was originally a shadow of an axe that was brought to reality.

He lifted his small finger and placed it into his mouth. Without hesitation, he bit off that finger but not a single drop of blood dripped out from his wound.

In an instant, his finger regrew and the flesh on that bitten finger vanished, leaving only the bones. Then, the bones disintegrated and formed into countless shadows of cultivators.

"Ancient Devil Dao — Summoning Armies by Crushing Bone!"

As Mo Zhong shouted that command, the crushed finger bone turned into six million shadows of Peak Gold Core Realm devil guards!

In the past, Moksha Emperor had also used the same technique. However, the one he used was just a fragment of the lost ancient devil ability. How could it be as complete as the technique that Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong used just now?!

Summoning six million Gold Core Realm devil shadows with a finger. This kind of ability was just unthinkable!

Besides, Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong used his younger version to display this technique. If he uses this technique with his full power at the immortal emperor level, he could probably summon billions of Void Fragmentation Realm devil shadows that would help him conquer the world!

"This is the true Summoning Armies by Crushing Bone! It isn't the incomplete technique which Moksha Emperor used in the past!"

Ning Fan activated his devil eye, giving his best to steal this ancient devil ability.

As the founder of the Devil Conferral Summit, Mo Zhong's status was far above the nine ancestors of the devil race. The ancient devil ability he used was perhaps the most original and complete secret technique in the world!

Similarly, Ning Fan bit one of his fingers off and cried out the same words.

"Ancient Devil Dao — Summoning Armies by Crushing Bone!"

His little finger instantly regenerated. Seconds later, the bone of his broken finger turned into an army of six million Gold Core Realm devils which emanated immense devil qi!

Summoning an army of six million Gold Core Realm devils using a single technique. With this army of six million devils, Ning Fan could wipe out a high grade cultivation country as easy as blowing off dust.

"Kill!"

The devil armies which the two parties summoned charged towards each other and a large-scale massacre began. As soon as they died, they would vanish into ashes.

Eventually, Ning Fan and Mo Zhong ended up with a draw in the battle between their respective six million devil armies.

However, Mo Zhong had obviously already used this technique countless times. Even though he was currently using it based on his Early Reckless Devil Realm power, his proficiency was undeniable.

As for Ning Fan, other than witnessing the incomplete version of the same technique from Moksha Emperor and Bone Emperor, it was his third time seeing this technique.

Even so, he still ended up with a tie against Mo Zhong. If he studies this technique more deeply, the destructive power of the technique he displays would certainly be greater than that of the young Mo Zhong!

Mo Zhong was fully aware that if he were born in the same era as Ning Fan, the latter would certainly become one of his strong opponents in his journey of attaining the Dao.

Be it the three styles of his Sad Devil Axe or the Summoning Armies by Crushing Bone, they all weren't his strongest techniques.

The young Mo Zhong's eyes shone in golden light that was as dazzling as the sun again and they were filled with immense battle intent!

"What's your name?" This question showed the degree of respect he had for Ning Fan. Right after this moment, he was going to go all-out against him.

"Ning Fan!"

Ning Fan also kept his Separation Slayer Sword. His expression was gloomy. Except for the Myriad Sword Style, he had not gained any advantages against Mo Zhong since the beginning of their fight.

So this is the strength of the young great emperor…

"You cultivated both the divine and devil paths and you can use magic power and essence qi. If I am not mistaken, this should be the Yin Yang Devil Vein which <strong></strong><anno data-annotation-id="a1080da3-493f-19f8-d7bf-8d4991fe952e"><strong>Luan Gu</strong></anno> created. Your innate potential is quite extraordinary to be capable of cultivating the Yin Yang Devil Vein to this level. However, you seem to have yet to attain the other inheritance 'Invincible Attack'. This is pretty unfortunate for you. I'm afraid that you'll find it a little strenuous in our next round."

Chi*

Suddenly, Mo Zhong's eyes shot out a golden light so bright that the entire world darkened, leaving only his eyes that were as shiny as the genuine sun.

"The nostalgia formed by the cold dew can never endure the light of daybreak. The nine rays of light in my eyes are none other than the Nine <strong></strong><anno data-annotation-id="7992cbea-d9ef-706e-dc5d-b09755a9b2a2"><strong>Li</strong></anno>! The Nine Li Incarnation Technique!"

In the next moment, Mo Zhong's physical body broke apart and scattered into nine golden rays.

The nine golden rays turned into nine shadows of gigantic beasts. All of them were of different species. Among them, there was a heavenly dragon, a bone bird, a giant python, a tiger leopard and a few others.

The only similarity between them was that each of their bodies gave out golden light as bright as the sun.

All of the beasts were at the Mid Reckless Devil Realm and every single one of them was as strong as the Flying Raindragon King!

Ultimately, none of the gigantic beasts had a real body!

"These are incarnations. Nine incarnations!" Ning Fan's eyes were filled with shock. The young Mo Zhong actually managed to cultivate the nine great incarnations and split his body into nine!

Incarnation was a Void Fragmentation Realm ability. However, before the young Mo Zhong had attained the Void Fragmentation Realm, he had already learned this technique. He truly was extraordinary.

Moreover, the young Mo Zhong's understanding about incarnation technique had not only reached the level of healing himself using incarnations but also Incarnation Transformation, which was a higher level than the aforementioned.

He was proficient in 81 transformations in total using his incarnation! Aside from that, the strength of all of the ferocious beasts he transformed into was greater than the level of his original body.

Ning Fan activated his devil eye. Suddenly, he seemed to have understood something…

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

<annotations style="display: none;"><ol class="tinymce-annotation-container"><li data-annotation-id="a1080da3-493f-19f8-d7bf-8d4991fe952e">Luan Gu (Chinese: 乱古 Pinyin: luàn gǔ)Luan means chaos. Gu means old or ancient. This is the Chinese name of Ancient Chaos or Immortal Emperor Ancient Chaos (including his title). It was previously translated literally based on the meaning of the words but we decided to go back to using pinyin for his name to avoid confusion.</li><li data-annotation-id="7992cbea-d9ef-706e-dc5d-b09755a9b2a2">Li (Chinese: 黎 Pinyin: lí)It should mean the light of dawn in this context.</li></ol></annotations>",