Grasping Evil

Ning Fan stood inside the fire cauldron of the heavenly tribulation. The sea of flames in the form of a qilin engulfed him. The runes of the flames interweaved with each other which suppressed him with the power of the Great Dao.

He hurled punches, trying to disperse the sea of flames. However, even if he used his Stele of Sun and Moon that had the ability to restrain flames, he could not scatter them. All he could do was to prevent himself from being injured.

The sea of flames infused with the ancient runes was far too strong. The runes had increased the power of the void flame to a frightening level, preventing Ning Fan from taking a single step.

This was the fire tribulation that was personally caused by a Dao Guardian. Ordinary Void Glimpse Stage experts would definitely die within the cauldron!

It was already unbelievable for Ning Fan to have temporarily protected himself from injury.

There were flames all around him. He could neither get out of the sea of flames nor break the fire caldron, much less escape from it. Hence, he could not execute his plan of capturing Giant Zhi Huo.

He carefully travelled amidst the sea of flames. However, the flames would follow him wherever he went without giving him a chance to flee at all.

*Roar*

In the sea of flames, columns of deep red flames suddenly transformed into thousands of fire qilins. All of them roared angrily while they charged at Ning Fan.

Ning Fan immediately stopped moving and activated his essence qi to throw some punches at them. His moves were blazing fast, killing each of the fire qilins that had tried to approach him. At the same time, he was inwardly surprised by how difficult it was to deal with these fire qilins.

These creatures were created from the flames. Each of them had a cultivation base at the Divine Transformation Realm and above.

Ning Fan kept killing the fire qilins. Each of them would break down into small flames after they were extinguished. However, the flames would condense into the form of the qilin beast moments later and continue charging at him.

Ning Fan could not completely kill any of the fire qilins. As for his magic power and essence qi, they were quickly being depleted every time he attacked.

"This fire cauldron is the tribulation cauldron of the heavenly tribulation which Giant Zhi Huo summoned. It contains the eight trigrams. As long as the eight trigrams are not dealt with, the tribulation cauldron will not disappear! The flames within the cauldron are tribulation flames. All of these flames are infused with ancient runes by the giant. As long as the runes are not destroyed, the flames will never be extinguished! Now, this giant used the Qilin Technique and commanded the flames to turn into qilins and had them attack you. This technique doesn't kill you in one attack. Instead, all it does is deplete your magic power and weaken you so that you'll be killed by the tribulation flames. You must find a way to leave this cauldron as soon as possible. Don't spend too much energy on these fire qilins which will just waste your magic power!"

"The arrangements of the sea of flames within this cauldron is actually the Yin Yang Eight Trigrams Formation Technique. I also can't see through its mysteries so you must be careful. If you make a single misstep in this sea of flames, you will be burned to ashes even if you have the Stele of Sun and Moon protecting you!"

Inside the Yin Yang Locket, Luo You warned Ning Fan.

Ning Fan nodded. He also understood that he could not break the tribulation cauldron and flames by force.

He activated the power of the Heart Formation and his eyes focused on the marks of the formations. Gradually, he saw through the grand formation that was hidden in the sea of flames.

The sea of flames might seem disorderly but it actually contained a formation technique. Every wall inside the cauldron was inscribed with the runes of the <anno data-annotation-id="4547c933-2299-7dc1-7fe3-21a18e7a4798"><strong>eight trigrams</strong> </anno>which included the <strong></strong><anno data-annotation-id="18a48570-a270-5bdf-2a51-86ef67852782"><strong>Qian</strong></anno>,<strong></strong><anno data-annotation-id="0fdec4ef-f32e-5376-e981-3b5645627908"><strong>Kan</strong></anno>,<strong></strong><anno data-annotation-id="b01bf574-e695-6bdc-323d-44ab699f7c14"><strong>Gen</strong></anno>,<strong></strong><anno data-annotation-id="25d49837-03e9-01b1-ed86-1537154a5e52"><strong>Zhen</strong></anno>,<strong></strong><anno data-annotation-id="4fb32a8e-116b-10af-4afa-0131d9bba4df"><strong>Xun</strong></anno>,<strong></strong><anno data-annotation-id="ecff126d-c39f-9b60-c14f-069ec872db7c"><strong>Li</strong></anno>,<strong></strong><anno data-annotation-id="82c3ee69-3c58-45a9-2fc4-17e638e6aa9b"><strong>Kun</strong></anno>,<strong></strong><anno data-annotation-id="944801e0-5888-3406-b551-0c4253996db6"><strong>Dui</strong></anno>. Unless these eight trigrams were destroyed, the tribulation cauldron will never break.

Li was the trigram of flame. The power of flames of this trigram was the strongest.

Xun was the trigram of wind. In this direction, Only wind was present with no presence of flames. Even so, it produced masses of smoke that could blind a Void Glimpse Stage cultivator's eyes.

Kan was the trigram of water. Water and fire were incompatible elements. This direction was the weakest part of the sea of flames. Thus, it had the most fire qilins standing guard in this direction…

After dismissing the formation marks of his Heart Formation, he made up his mind.

Why don't I kill my way out from this sea of flames through the Kan trigram?!

As long as Ning Fan gets close to the wall and uses all of his magic power to attack that area, he had high confidence that he would be able to break the cauldron in a single try!

Ning Fan stepped on the mysterious formation without making a single misstep across the sea of flames. His formation technique's level was so profound that even Luo You could not hold a candle to him.

Those qilins seemed to have understood Ning Fan's intention and rushed toward him with angry roars, trying to stop him from approaching the wall of the Kan trigram.

Ning Fan did not show any mercy toward them. He opened his mouth and blasted out columns of black devil flames, commanding them to transform into thousands of black butterflies and collide against the fire qilins to perish together with them.

Trampling upon the corpses of countless qilins and ashes of butterflies, Ning Fan slowly got closer to the direction of the Kan trigram and mercilessly smashed against the wall.

In an instant, one hundred and eight layers of palm imprints combined into one, heavily striking the wall on the Kan trigram. That attack directly destroyed the runes of the Kan trigram which emitted a deafening bang.

The entire tribulation cauldron began to shake violently. A large opening was created on one side of the walls. Right afterward, the entire fire cauldron began to tremble and the other walls also started to break apart successively.

Giant Zhi Huo who had blank eyes firmly believed that he had already eliminated Ning Fan.

However, what he saw next was completely beyond his expectations. After the loud bang, the tribulation cauldron he summoned was actually destroyed by Ning Fan!

"Impossible!"

The giant could not believe his own eyes. He could only watch Ning Fan step on countless layers of fire waves and soar into the sky, flying toward him with immense killing qi!

The giant waved his hand. He seemed to be summoning the next fire tribulation to trap Ning Fan again.

This time, however, Ning Fan did not give him a chance to do so.

He performed a series of hand seals with his ten fingers. In the meantime, his eyes suddenly became indifferent and dignified.

His eyes stared at Giant Zhi Huo with a glint of coldness. Then, he pointed a finger at him, using the Heaven Sealing Technique!

"Seal!"

With Ning Fan's current cultivation base, he was definitely not strong enough to seal the giant's movement with a single move.

However, he had infused this technique with his persistent belief. He did not really seek to seal the giant's movement. He only strived to prevent the giant from summoning the tribulation again.

As Ning Fan pointed his finger, blood threads suddenly grew out from the giant's body, tightly binding his arms.

Giant Zhi Huo roared in fury. He gathered all of his strength in his arms and broke all the blood threads, breaking free from Ning Fan's Heaven Sealing Technique.

Even though he did not get sealed by the technique, he could not summon the second wave of heavenly tribulation in time since he got interrupted.

When Ning Fan's technique was forcibly broken, blood flowed out from his seven orifices, making him look like a deranged devil.

Without even wiping off the blood stains on his face, he dashed toward the giant, displaying his second magic technique on him.

He closed his right eye and only opened his left eye. At that moment, the mark of a black crescent moon appeared in his left eye!

It was his first time using the Life Imprisoning Technique using his strength at the Peak Void Inquiry Stage!

This was the Grievance Technique of the Ancestral Emperor of the Northern Heaven! This technique allowed him to sacrifice his life force and lifespan to seal a puppet's life!

Back in the Lost World Tower, his cultivation base was still weak and he did not have much lifespan. Thus, he could not seal a great number of Void Refinement Realm spiritual puppets.

Now, however, there was only one puppet he needed to deal with. On top of that, his cultivation base was vastly different from before and his lifespan was incredibly long!

Since this giant dared to summon the heavenly tribulation to eliminate him, there was no need for him to hesitate in capturing the giant and turning it into his slave!

Facing Ning Fan's cold and imposing eyes and the black crescent moon in his left eye, Giant Zhi Huo sensed an exceedingly dangerous feeling from him for the first time!

The look in his eyes was truly terrifying. It was as if he ruled over every puppet in the world, standing at the pinnacle above all living beings! It was as if the person who was standing in front of Giant Zhi Huo was not Ning Fan but the Ancestral Emperor of the Northern Heaven who once controlled all the puppets in the world!

Fear!

As the messenger of the Heavenly Dao, Giant Zhi Huo actually felt a hint of fear from Ning Fan!

His instincts told him that he must never let Ning Fan get closer to him! He must never let Ning Fan display the complete crescent moon technique! Otherwise, even if he was a Void Fragmentation Realm spiritual puppet and had a stronger cultivation base than him, he would still face danger!

He opened his large mouth and shot out a crimson-red void flame that covered the entire sky. The flame condensed into a colossal mountain of fire. The light of the fire shielded the sky within one million li* (500m per li). Then, the mountain dropped down toward Ning Fan at high speed!

Giant Zhi Huo had infused the colossal mountain with all of his magic power. Even if it was a Void Fragmentation Realm knocked down by the mountain, they would still be severely injured!

Luo You wanted to help Ning Fan get rid of the mountain. However, Ning Fan declined her help outright.

Ning Fan was already able to capture the Divine Transformation Realm Stone Warrior when he was still at the Nascent Soul Realm.

Now, his magic power was on the verge of advancing to the Void Glimpse Stage. His ancient devil cultivation realm had even reached the Mid Reckless Devil Realm. Thus, it might not be impossible for him to capture a Void Fragmentation Realm spiritual puppet!

If he borrowed Luo You's magic power, he would certainly suffer severe backlash again even if he could capture the giant successfully. He did not want to rest for another few months to treat his wounds.

Looking at the fire giant, he suddenly patted his storage pouch and took out three Void Fragmentation Realm jade slips. Despite his reluctance to use them, he gnashed his teeth and broke all three of them at once.

When the three Void Fragmentation Realm jade slips were broken, three gigantic shadows of Ancestor Lan Jiao appeared in the sky and hurled their large fists at the fire giant.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Giant Zhi Huo's all-out attack was extraordinary. Just a Void Fragmentation Realm jade slip would certainly not be able to stop his attack.

However, when Ning Fan used three jade slips at the same time, allowing three giants to attack together, the fire giant was instantly shattered by their attacks!

After each of them delivered an attack, their shadows gradually vanished. Giant Zhi Huo's eyes were filled with astonishment. He did not imagine that Ning Fan could stop his all-out attack.

The colossal mountain scattered into columns of flames that continued to fly at Ning Fan, trying to stop him from moving forward. Ning Fan closed his right eye tightly while his left eye was glinting coldly. The black crescent moon was on the verge of coming out. Fearlessly, he dashed toward the incoming flames.

*Chi* *Chi* *Chi*

The flames were also infused with ancient runes which made their power extremely frightening. In just an instant, they burned Ning Fan's physical body to ashes!

Giant Zhi Huo saw Ning Fan vanish right before his eyes. However, before he could even rejoice, countless black shadows spread out in the sky which transformed into tens of thousands of butterflies that were dancing in the air.

When the black butterflies combined into one, Ning Fan who was wearing a set of black robes reappeared before him with his long black hair dancing wildly in the air.

No matter how many times the flames burned him to ashes, he had an unyielding persistence that the Heavenly Dao's messenger could not eliminate!

"Incarnation Technique!" Giant Zhi Huo was flabbergasted by what he saw.

It was as if the black-robed young man in front of him was not a person but a black butterfly.

This butterfly was filled with stubborn persistence. Even if his wings were to burn to ashes and perish forever from this world, he also wanted to protect the belief deep in his heart!

I will never regret it even if my wings are burned to ashes. I will defy Samsara with my butterfly!

For a second, the giant's aura force wavered, making him move half a step backward instinctively.

At this moment, Ning Fan had already travelled across the waves of flames and emerged in front of the giant!

Ten thousand years. Twenty thousand years. Thirty thousand years…

Ning Fan was crazily sacrificing his lifespan just to unleash the maximum power of the Life Imprisoning Technique!

In one try, he gave up fifty thousand years of life. In the next instant, the black crescent moon in his left eye shined brightly, making the giant feel that he was undefeatable!

"All puppets in one hundred million worlds. Without my grant of life, your lives shall be imprisoned!"

"Grievance Technique. Life Imprisonment! One finger to imprison your lives!"

The light given out by the black crescent moon in Ning Fan's left eye magnified many times!

At this moment, Giant Zhi Huo stared at Ning Fan in disbelief. He could feel that all of his abilities were going to be destroyed in front of Ning Fan's indifferent eyes. He could not harbor any intention to resist him at all!

Unlike Stone Warrior who only had a single moon mark, the giant's body was densely covered with thousands of black crescent moon marks.

After being plated with the marks, Giant Zhi Huo's heart felt chills. To his surprise, his life and death was actually controlled by the marks. He now had become a slave to Ning Fan and he could no longer defy his orders!

He was a dignified Void Fragmentation Realm puppet, the messenger of the Heavenly Dao who summoned the heavenly tribulations. How could he submit to a cultivator of the mortal realm?!

"I can't accept this! I am unwilling to yield!"

He roared in anger, mustering all of his strength to resist. However, he could not break free from the control of the moon marks which made him lose control over his body.

Ning Fan's eyes flashed with indifference. He suddenly jumped into the sky and stood on the head of the giant. Then, he squatted down and activated his memory power to erase all of his memories.

As the messenger of the Heavenly Dao, the giant naturally had spiritual intelligence and memories. By erasing all of its memories, it could only submit to Ning Fan from now onward!

"Zhi Huo… Greets Master!"

The giant submissively knelt down on the fire clouds and worshipped Ning Fan respectfully.

"W-What?! A Void Fragmentation Realm Dao Guardian actually yielded to Marquis White Robe? What exactly happened?!" A cultivator of the Sword Island was startled.

"We don't… We don't know! However, if this incident spreads across the world, there will certainly be an unimaginable uproar in the Rain World!" A cultivator of the Pill Island spoke in bewilderment.

Ning Fan then jumped down from the giant's head and stood in midair. He pointed at the giant to turn it into a fiery-red doll that was as big as his palm and kept it inside his pouch.

Looking at the many cultivators on the ground, Ning Fan sighed faintly. The scene of him subduing Zhi Huo Giant was too shocking. Apparently, he would need to use the power of his memory intent realm to erase the memories of most of the cultivators present.

"I didn't expect that you could actually subdue this giant puppet… In any case, you've completely offended the Heavenly Dao of the mortal realm. However, the Heavenly Dao follows the heavenly principle and it cannot simply land a heavenly tribulation on a cultivator for revenge. The Heavenly Dao will not plot against you. However, when you achieve advancements in your cultivation in the future, the Heavenly Dao will summon an unimaginably terrifying heavenly tribulation. Perhaps when you advance to the Void Inquiry Stage, the Heavenly Dao will summon a Void Fragmentation Realm heavenly tribulation and toy with you until you die… Hopefully, you can withstand that level of heavenly tribulation…" In the Profound Yin World, Luo You sighed with admiration and spoke with a teasing tone.

"Offending the Heavenly Dao, huh…? In that case, I need to be extra cautious when advancing to the next cultivation realm in the future and prepare a great amount of magic treasures and spiritual medicine to face the tribulation, right?"

Ning Fan smiled while thinking differently inwardly.

He would accept his fate even if the Heavenly Dao were to give him the Void Fragmentation Realm Heavenly Tribulation on the day he breaks through to the Void Inquiry Stage.

After all, he needed to pay a price for obtaining a Void Fragmentation Realm spiritual puppet, right?

With the Void Fragmentation Realm puppet that he had just captured, his safety was more or less assured…

If he borrows Luo You's magic power, he would suffer a backlash that would render him bedridden for several months. However, if he controls the Void Fragmentation Realm puppet to kill his enemies, he would not face any backlash.

"Next, I will break through to the Void Glimpse Stage in one go…"

Ning Fan looked at the tribulation flames in the surroundings that had diminished. After calming down his mind, he organized his insights of the void to find the bottleneck of the Void Glimpse Stage and then broke through it.

At this moment, his magic power and aura force went beyond the standard of the Void Glimpse Stage. The amount of magic power he had nearly reached one million and five hundred thousand units!

With one million and five hundred thousand units of magic power, his cultivation base reached the Early Void Refinement Realm!

With nine million units of essence qi, his ancient devil cultivation realm reached the Mid Reckless Devil!

The total sum of his magic power and essence qi had already exceeded ten million units. Even an ordinary Void Pierce Stage expert only had ten million units of magic power!

"It's time to go back to business."

Ning Fan released the power of his memory intent realm and commanded them to sweep across countless cultivators. The memories of all low-level cultivators were completely erased, except for Venerated Sword and a few cultivators…

The existence of Giant Zhi Huo would be temporarily kept as a secret and reserved as a trump card…

If the next heavenly tribulation arrives with other Dao Guardians to land tribulations on Ning Fan, he would not mind capturing a few more puppets of the Heavenly Dao.

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

<annotations style="display: none;"><ol class="tinymce-annotation-container"><li data-annotation-id="4547c933-2299-7dc1-7fe3-21a18e7a4798">The eight trigrams, also known as the Bague (八卦 Bāguà), are the eight symbols used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality. Find out more on wikipedia via the following link.Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagua</li><li data-annotation-id="18a48570-a270-5bdf-2a51-86ef67852782">乾 (Qián) represents heaven.</li><li data-annotation-id="0fdec4ef-f32e-5376-e981-3b5645627908">坎(Kǎn) represents water.</li><li data-annotation-id="b01bf574-e695-6bdc-323d-44ab699f7c14">艮 (Gèn) represents mountain.</li><li data-annotation-id="25d49837-03e9-01b1-ed86-1537154a5e52">震 (Zhèn) represents thunder.</li><li data-annotation-id="4fb32a8e-116b-10af-4afa-0131d9bba4df">巽 (Xùn) represents wind.</li><li data-annotation-id="ecff126d-c39f-9b60-c14f-069ec872db7c">离 (Lí) represents fire.</li><li data-annotation-id="82c3ee69-3c58-45a9-2fc4-17e638e6aa9b">坤 (Kǎn) represents ground.</li><li data-annotation-id="944801e0-5888-3406-b551-0c4253996db6">兑 (Duì) represents lake.</li></ol></annotations>",