Grasping Evil

At the bottom of the seventh level of the pond, Ning Fan sat down on the mud in a meditative posture in deathly stillness.

His body was covered in black starlight which constantly healed the injuries on his body caused by the Soul Bathing Light.

Immersed in the divine light, his medicine soul was gradually forcing its way through the bottleneck of the Sixth Revolution.

Judging by the speed of his progress, he might still need more time to attain the Sixth Revolution.

In the Profound Yin World, Luo You was leisurely sitting outside the thatched cottage while calmly combing her long black hair.

At first, she was worried that Ning Fan would not be able to endure the divine light of the seventh level. Now, however, her worries had already completely vanished.

Unknowingly, the young man who had always needed her help and protection in the past had now grown into a dependable man…

This made her feel gratified but also a little dejected at the same time.

Her long hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall. Her expression was gentle and refined, like a young mistress staying in her boudoir for a long time. There was not the slightest hint of allure in her appearance which she would normally display.

As for her eyes that were as deep as the ocean, they carried an indescribable emotion.

She put down her comb and touched her soft lips which were as red as a rose with her tender and slender fingers. Immediately, her cheeks blushed.

"I remember that while I was unconscious, that stinky little brat always kissed me and used his mouth to feed me the medicine…"

"He even said that he will protect me…"

Even though she was deeply asleep in the past, she could still perceive the things happening in the outside world.

She remembered Ning Fan's kindness. She remembered his gentleness. These things put her heart in a mess as she felt perplexed and frustrated.

The reason why she helped Ning Fan in the beginning was for their own individual interests. However, she could not deny the fact that some inexplicable feelings had found their way into their mutually beneficial relationship as time went by.

After she regained her consciousness, there was a moment where the idea of opening up herself to Ning Fan crossed her mind. She wanted to get closer to him.

However, when she thought of her unfulfilled revenge for the annihilation of her family, her heart gradually turned cold, eliminating all of the feelings within her heart.

"Luo You ah, Luo You… You're not the eldest mistress of the Luo Family anymore. Love doesn't suit you. You only exist to seek revenge for your parents and clan members…"

Luo You's eyes slowly became calm. She went inside the thatched cottage and walked towards the dressing table. Standing in front of her bronze mirror, she raised her hands and gently undid the buttons on her chest.

Her plain white dress which was made of soft silk fabric lightly fell to the ground.

She took off her tube top, exposing her soft and silky breasts.

She turned her back to the bronze mirror with her arms crossed tightly in front of her chests and then turned her head around and stared back into the mirror.

The lady in the bronze mirror had skin as fair as white jade which made her exquisitely beautiful and elegant. Her curvy, naked body would make countless men crazy.

On her pure white back, however, was a horrible scar which was a ghastly sight.

The pattern of that scar resembled a hideous spider.

"Luo You, take a good look at this scar. Have you forgotten about the enemies who destroyed your family and the pain of losing your loved ones?"

Her long eyelashes were trembling while she muttered to herself, seemingly sorrowful. However, she shed no tears in the end.

She was no longer the weak and soft-hearted mistress of the Luo Family.

She made a firm resolution a long time ago to get her revenge. For revenge, she did not even hesitate to sacrifice her chastity by choosing the Yin Yang Transformation as her natal cultivation method and becoming a female devil lord who plucked men…

Unfortunately, fate played a little joke on her. Before she could taint her body, her primordial spirit was trapped inside the Yin Yang Locket.

Looking at the hideous scar, Luo You's face slowly turned cold. She no longer revealed any emotion on her face, just like a wooden puppet.

She put on her clothes and stayed silent for a while. After that, she muttered again.

"The past Luo You has already died. The current Luo You will never become enamored of anyone. Never…"

…

Ning Fan was not aware of the stimulating scene that had happened in the Profound Yin World.

He sat there without moving a single muscle for five days straight. The faint golden divine light shone on his face, illuminating the outline of his firm and persistent face.

He had hair that was as black as ink and long eyebrows that nearly reached his temples. Meanwhile, the blood-red star on his glabella was giving off a demonic light.

He did not have a mediocre appearance and wasn't peerlessly handsome either but he could make others feel at ease.

All of a sudden, Ning Fan opened his eyes which looked like two dark abysses.

"After being tempered by the Soul Bathing Light for five days, my medicine soul has already reached the limit of the Peak Grade Fifth Revolution. If I take the Liancheng Pill and the Soul Washing Lotus right at this moment, I believe my medicine soul will break through to the Sixth Revolution in one single try."

Ning Fan's tone of voice was flat but it contained a strong conviction.

Man proposes, Heaven disposes. Ning Fan had made lots of preparations in order to achieve the Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm.

The Pill Sovereign gave him some guidance on pill refinement techniques for one hundred years inside a dream, helping him clear off all the obstacles in his way to the Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm.

He got him a Liancheng Pill which would give him an additional boost in going through the bottleneck.

He also managed to ask the Pill Island to let him use the Soul Washing Pond as the location for his advancement to the Sixth Revolution.

Furthermore, he even chanced upon a Soul Washing Lotus. If he still failed even with the help of all of these, it would be unreasonable.

The sound of flowing water which filled his ears made him feel even more peaceful and quiet.

He took in a gentle breath and took out the Liancheng Pill and the Soul Washing Lotus. After thinking about it for some time, he decided to take the Liancheng Pill first.

This pill was concocted by the former palace lord of the Scarlet Heaven Palace but it was unfortunately refined into a defective pill upon its completion.

Luckily, the little pill devil had the heaven-defying ability to turn defective pills back to normal. However, it only had sixty to seventy percent efficacy of a common Liancheng Pill.

The power of the pill spread within Ning Fan's body. Immediately, his medicine soul began to throb.

He closed his eyes, feeling the changes that were happening to his medicine soul. After he had taken the pill, a few hundred tiny vortexes seemed to have appeared on his medicine soul.

The small vortexes were absorbing the nearby medicine soul power. Moments later, the medicine soul power which was originally free and scattered began to gather with the vortexes as the center.

Each of the vortexes was like an indestructible city. They trapped the medicine soul power within to prevent them from scattering.

The several hundreds of vortexes responded with each other, just like a few hundreds of cities lighting up their beacons to signal to each other.

Ning Fan suddenly opened his eyes. This time, they flashed with a mild surprise.

The Liancheng Pill did not change the intensity of his medicine soul power. However, it made qualitative changes to his medicine soul. It was the same as an enhancement, a solidification.

After experiencing qualitative changes, his chances of attaining the Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm was doubtlessly increased!

"The <strong></strong><anno data-annotation-id="aedcd137-ac45-4ae8-82f4-0cb54fc6c340"><strong>Liancheng Pill</strong></anno> uses the soul as cities and connects them together in a chain of beacons…It is an excellent pill! Unfortunately, the medicinal ingredients needed to concoct this pill are too difficult to obtain. Otherwise, I can make a few more pellets and have even greater chances of attaining the Sixth Revolution."

Ning Fan was quite satisfied with the pill's effects. After he had fully assimilated the power of the Liancheng Pill, he was going to take the Soul Washing Lotus next.

It was a green lotus flower that was almost completely transparent. It was so crystal-clear that the veins of its leaves and petals were visible.

When he placed it near his nose and sniffed it, he could smell a unique delicate fragrance which made his mind and soul feel refreshed.

After taking it, the green lotus flower turned into a fresh and cooling qi which enveloped his medicine soul. It made him feel as if a cool breeze was blowing across him.

Ning Fan then pulled himself together and focused on assimilating the qi from the lotus flower. Assimilating it took ten days.

As the reinvigorating qi was completely assimilated, the barrier between him and the Sixth Revolution medicine soul became thinner. It would only need one final step and the barrier would finally be broken.

His medicine soul power was leaking like a flood and gradually became too much for that barrier to hold. Ning Fan mustered his energy, trying to push through the barrier and attain the Sixth Revolution.

However, seconds before he was about to achieve the breakthrough, a strange Heavenly Dao power suddenly rose in heaven and earth and struck him.

All he could feel was a sharp pain in his medicine soul. The medicine soul power which he had been accumulating to push through the barrier was all dispersed by the power of the Heavenly Dao…

The Heavenly Dao actually did not want him to achieve the Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm!

This stage was as difficult as ascending Heaven. Countless Fifth Revolution Pill Refinement Masters were stuck at this stage, blocked by the Heavenly Dao which rendered their attempts to attain the Sixth Revolution unsuccessful.

Ning Fan's expression was filled with surprise. He had never expected that the saying which said that the Sixth Revolution is like Heaven actually referred to the Heavenly Dao's obstruction at the final stage of breaking through to the Sixth Revolution!

"It's beyond my expectations for the Heavenly Dao to actually appear and obstruct me from advancing…"

Ning Fan frowned. His expression turned slightly serious. However, he immediately regained his best state for cultivation in the next second. He locked away all his emotions and maintained his calmness.

He sat there for another day to accumulate his medicine soul power again.

One day later, he activated his medicine soul power and tried to push through the bottleneck of the Sixth Revolution once more. However, he encountered the same obstruction from the Heavenly Dao again which caused him to fail another time in the end.

The second day… The third day… The fifty-seventh day!

Even after Ning Fan successively failed fifty-seven times, he still could not get through the barrier of the Sixth Revolution. Every time he was close to succeeding, the Heavenly Dao would emerge and stop him.

He finally understood how exactly difficult it was to attain the Sixth Revolution. Luo You did not lie to him. Breaking through to the Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm was much harder than breaking through to the Void Refinement Realm.

On the fifty-eighth day, Ning Fan stopped recharging his medicine soul power.

On the fifty-ninth day, he was still sitting on the same spot without moving at all.

The sixtieth day came. Then, the sixty-first… On the ninety-fifth day, Ning Fan suddenly opened his eyes. He made another attempt to attain the Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm but he still failed in the end.

This time, however, he waved his hand the moment he failed and captured a strand of Heavenly Dao power.

That strand of power quickly scattered between his fingers but he managed to vaguely hear a voice from the Heavenly Dao. That eternally immutable voice was constantly muttering something.

Ning Fan calmed himself down and closed his eyes, trying to forget everything in front of his eyes. Then, he entered a "<strong></strong><anno data-annotation-id="7c1da2f7-d85f-add3-8c2f-4c80eab957dc"><strong>non-self</strong></anno>" state.

The ninety-sixth day arrived. Then, the ninety-seventh… On the one hundred and fourteenth day, Ning Fan seemed to have become one with the Heavenly Dao. He could finally listen to that voice clearly.

"The souls of pill refinement cultivators were born in heaven and earth and travelled from the past to the present."

"The Dao of Pills is a reverse path. It seizes the fortunes of Heaven. That is why Heaven relinquishes it."

"If one does not have the resolve to seize Heaven, they can never transform their souls. And would not succeed in the Dao of Pills!"

This voice reverberated in Ning Fan's Sea of Consciousness for a long time. Then, Ning Fan suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes were solemn and determined, as if he had discovered a new insight.

Pills were products created using the heavenly ingredients and earthly treasures combined with the spiritual power of heaven and earth. By seizing the fortunes of heaven and earth, cultivators could increase their cultivation bases and possess the strength to defy Heaven. Therefore, speaking from this perception, the Dao of Pills was a path that was against Heaven.

In order to successfully make a Sixth Revolution Pill, a Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Master would need to seize resources from heaven and earth.

Thus, if a pill refinement master did not have the determination to go against Heaven, they definitely would not be able to break through to that level.

But what did it mean by transforming one's soul…?

Could it be that when a person attains the Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm, they would need to transform their medicine souls into other forms like what Venerated Pill did?

If that was the case, what should Ning Fan's medicine soul turn into…?

"If the Sixth Revolution is like Heaven, then I will seize Heaven! However, how should I do that…? How do I transform my medicine soul into another form…?"

Ning Fan closed his eyes, forgetting about the passage of time.

Suddenly, a scene appeared before his eyes.

There was once a butterfly which was unafraid of the astral wind and flew to the Heavenly Court with its mortal body.

There was once a butterfly which did not fear an immortal emperor. It sacrificed its butterfly body in order to destroy one of that immortal emperor's eyes.

There was once a butterfly which did not fear Heaven!

"I was… a butterfly…" Ning Fan opened his eyes. His medicine soul power which was as dark as ink suddenly gushed out from his body like a vast black ocean and filled heaven and earth.

When Ning Fan willed it, his black medicine soul power turned into millions of black butterflies.

He suddenly rose to his feet. His snow-white robes made him stand out conspicuously among the massive flock of butterflies.

His eyes were as deep as the ocean. He now had full confidence that he could break through to the Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm this time!

"I want… the Sixth Revolution!"

The barrier that was preventing his medicine soul from advancing into the Sixth Revolution literally broke the moment his medicine soul turned into butterflies. There was no longer any force stopping him from achieving the breakthrough.

When the Heavenly Dao power fell upon him, the millions of black butterflies which his medicine soul transformed into danced in the air and soared upward. Each of them darted into the Heavenly Dao power, literally crushing the Heavenly Dao power by sacrificing themselves!

At this moment, what kind of determination would be crazier than the butterfly in his previous life?

He did not have a unique physique. Neither did he have unmatched foresight and wisdom. However, he had this resolve that even an immortal emperor or Heaven could not suppress!

*Bang*

A powerful pitch-black medicine soul carrying a Low Grade Sixth Revolution aura force dispersed from Ning Fan's body.

He turned into a ray of light and swiftly flew upward. He dashed past the sixth level, the fifth level… the first level and eventually went out of the Soul Washing Pond. As he stood in midair, his aura force swept across the entire Pill Island!

At this moment, countless black butterflies mysteriously appeared on the island.

Some low grade pill refinement cultivators did not understand the appearance of such an unusual phenomenon. As for the pill cultivators who had extensive knowledge, they had already sensed the terror contained in those black butterflies.

The black butterflies were actually transformed from a medicine soul!

And the qi of this medicine soul belonged to Ning Fan! This power had reached the standard of the Low Grade Sixth Revolution!

" Holy shit! Revered Ming's pill refinement realm has really broken through to the Sixth Revolution. This is really unexpected!" Countless cultivators of the Pill Island cried out in surprise.

Su Yan and Ming Que were cultivating in their own rooms. When they sensed this familiar medicine soul qi, both of them smiled at the same time.

They had always believed that Ning Fan could attain the Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm… He had indeed done it!

From today onward, he would be the eighth Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm of the Rain World.

From today onward, even Void Fragmentation Realm old monsters had to be polite to him because of his identity as a Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Master!

Four months flew by. Venerated Pill was already twenty to thirty percent recovered from his injuries. He was having his seclusion in his stone chamber to heal his injuries.

When he sensed that every part of the Pill Island was full of black butterflies, his eyes were filled with amazement. He was much more surprised than anyone on the island!

Not only did he feel that Ning Fan had attained the Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm, but he also discovered that Ning Fan's medicine soul aura force had become unimaginably strong. It even made his medicine soul dragon form faintly shiver in fear!

Even though the butterflies were weak and small, they had an extremely stubborn and unstoppable madness!

What shocked Venerated Pill the most was that Ning Fan's medicine soul power was at least thirty percent stronger than his even though he had just broken through to the Low Grade Sixth Revolution!

"He has just attained the Sixth Revolution but his medicine soul has actually already become so powerful!?"

Regardless of his injuries, Venerated Pill turned into a ray of light and went out of his stone chamber in awe.

Just as he soared into the sky, he saw Ning Fan standing in midair. The both of them exchanged glances.

"Fellow Daoist, are you willing to swap some battle soul techniques with this old man…?" Venerated Pill gritted his teeth. He wanted to find out whether or not Ning Fan's medicine soul was really thirty percent stronger than his…

"Your injuries…" Ning Fan said with concern.

"These are just physical injuries… We will only be using our medicine souls to fight. Therefore, it won't aggravate my physical injuries! Fellow Daoist, please exchange battle soul techniques with me!" Venerated Pill insisted.

"Alright!"

Ning Fan also did not want to reject Venerated Pill's request. Immediately, he moved one thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) away and stood facing the latter.

He also wanted to find out how strong his medicine soul had become after breaking through to the Sixth Revolution.

Venerated Pill patted his head and his soul transformed into a black dragon which spat out fierce black flames at Ning Fan.

Ning Fan's eyes scanned across the flames and instantly became as cold as lightning. His black medicine soul rushed out from his body, transforming into millions of black butterflies. His aura force gave Venerated Pill a jolt.

"Incinerate!"

Ning Fan only muttered a single word. However, every butterfly lit themselves in flames and flew at the black dragon.

Each of the butterflies had an unstoppable persistence. They were wild enough to compete with the entire world!

*Bang*

The black dragon collided against countless black butterflies. The outcome was the black dragon being literally obliterated while there was still half of the entire group of butterflies all over the sky!

Venerated Pill's eyes widened in shock. Through this exchange, he surprisingly realized that Ning Fan's medicine soul was not just thirty percent stronger than his. In fact, Ning Fan's medicine soul was twice as strong!

"Only pill refinement masters who are on the verge of breaking through to the Mid Grade Sixth Revolution will possess such a powerful medicine soul… Could it be that this young man's medicine soul is already comparable to those pill refinement masters who are at the Half-Step Mid Grade Sixth Revolution even though he has just attained the Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm?! What a terrifying innate talent in pill refinement!"

Venerated Pill's eyes flashed with a hint of dejection. It was the helplessness of completely losing to Ning Fan.

Even though he had already expected that Ning Fan would surpass him after breaking through to the Sixth Revolution, he did not imagine that Ning Fan would exceed him to this extent.

Countless cultivators of the Pill Island who witnessed the battle of medicine souls between the two of them were flabbergasted.

Their island lord, the pill refinement grandmaster who was ranked seventh out of countless pill refinement cultivators in the Rain World, was actually completely defeated by Ning Fan in terms of medicine soul power?!

"Master…"

"Brother Biscuit!"

Su Yan and Ming Que flew into the sky one after the other. Both of them wore a happy and excited look on their faces.

The reason why they were happy was certainly because Ning Fan had attained the Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Realm.

However, Ning Fan's keen senses still managed to detect a hint of worry in their expressions.

Before Ning Fan could even talk to the two of them, Venerated Pill suddenly sighed.

"*Sigh* Originally, Fellow Daoist's new breakthrough should have been a delightful matter. But there is some bad news that I need to tell you…"

"Bad news?"

"Mm. During the four months while you were in the pond, I received Dong Xu and Ju Qing's message-transmitting flying sword from the Giant Devil Clan. They were asking me to lend them a hand… I'm afraid that the Giant Devil Clan has encountered trouble."

"The Giant Devil Clan has encountered trouble!?" Ning Fan's eyes were filled with concern. The joy and happiness he felt after achieving the breakthrough evaporated.

Xu Qiuling, Yue Lingkong and Fen Chi were still at the Giant Devil Clan. If the clan faced trouble, wouldn't the three of them be in danger? And there was still his little sister-in-law, Feng Xueyan…

"You don't have to worry. Although the Giant Devil Clan encountered trouble, it isn't a life and death crisis…" Venerated Pill wanted to continue but he hesitated in the next second.

"Please tell me what exactly happened to the Giant Devil Clan." Ning Fan's expression became slightly less tense after hearing that it was not a life and death crisis.

That's right. In any case, the Giant Devil Clan still had the Eight Ancestors protecting them from the shadows. And Yue Lingkong was also a Void Refinement Realm. The Giant Devil Clan would not face a life and death crisis at all unless it was a Void Fragmentation Realm expert who wanted to attack them.

Other than a madman like Ning Fan, there was not a single cultivator below the Void Fragmentation Realm who could suppress the four devil clans of the hidden ocean.

Besides, the Void Fragmentation Realm old monsters were obviously busy in their own cultivation. It was impossible for them to be interested in the Giant Devil Clan.

"The trouble the Giant Devil Clan is facing is only related to a single person… Now, there are countless forces of the internal sea gathering at the Giant Devil Clan requesting for that person…"

"Who is it?"

"The daughter of Ju Qing, Feng Xueyan! There are rumors claiming that Feng Xueyan is the devil concubine of the Giant Devil Clan and has the ability to decipher the scripture on the devil slate. Moreover, the Giant Devil Clan is rumored to be in possession of one of the devil statue slates… Countless forces had gathered at the clan, threatening Ju Qing to hand over his beloved daughter and the devil slate."

"The ability to decipher the devil statue slate!?" Ning Fan was so angry that he laughed.

He had already extracted the devil qi of the four devil slates and became an ancient devil. The slates were now useless.

It was laughable that there were still people who were completely in the dark fighting over the slates. Now, they even went to cause trouble to Feng Xueyan.

Someone really did not know their place. Even Ning Fan's toe could guess that the Ghost Eye Clan and King Lan Ling definitely had a hand in it.

After all, they were the two forces in the internal sea who were the most eager to get the slates and decipher them.

As for the other minor forces, they certainly did not have the slightest idea that there were still eight ancestors who would not die of old age behind the Giant Devil Clan's back. They probably just wanted to get a small share out of this by following the majority.

Be it the eight ancestors of the Giant Devil Clan, King Lan Ling or Marquis You Gui, none of them were good.

Ning Fan could not wait to find out how terrified those people would be when he set foot in the Giant Devil Clan with his current cultivation base!

As for Feng Xueyan, he would obviously keep her safe!

He wanted to find out who would still dare to lay a finger on her while he was around!

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

<annotations style="display: none;"><ol class="tinymce-annotation-container"><li data-annotation-id="aedcd137-ac45-4ae8-82f4-0cb54fc6c340">Liancheng Pill (Chinese: 连城丹) Pinyin: lián chéng dān)For Lian (连 lián), it can be an adverb, a verb, an adjective, a noun or even a preposition. In this context, I think it's verb and adjective meaning is much more suited. As a verb, it means connect, link or join. As an adjective, it means connecting.For cheng (城chéng), it means a city or town.</li><li data-annotation-id="7c1da2f7-d85f-add3-8c2f-4c80eab957dc">Non-self (Chinese: 无我 Pinyin: wú wǒ)I discovered that this should be a term used in Buddhism. This doctrine means that there is no unchanging, permanent self, soul, or essence in phenomena. In my own perspective, I think it basically means forgetting about yourself completely. You can find out more on Wikipedia.Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatt%C4%81</li></ol></annotations>",