Grasping Evil

<strong>Check Out the Author Note, especially for PRIVILEGED READERS</strong>

Ning Fan left the Low Grade Seventh Revolution vulnerary pill for Mei Chen.

He then returned to Seven Apricot City and brought Ming Que with him to head over to the Dark Sparrow's Grave of the Sinister Sparrow Sect.

When little Ming Que secretly left the Dark Sparrow's Grave in the past, Treant Min Luo must have been extremely worried about her.

Needless to say, Ming Que also missed Grandpa Min Luo very much after being separated from him for so many years.

The two of them arrived at the Earth Origin Palace of the Sinister Sparrow Sect. This time, Ning Fan did not use the teleportation formation there to go underground like he did in the past.

He put his hand around Ming Que's slender waist and directly displayed the Earth Movement Technique, and dove down one hundred thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) into the ground.

The weight of one hundred thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) of dirt would be enough to crush a Gold Core Realm cultivator to death. To Ning Fan, however, it was nothing.

The two of them appeared on the first floor of the Dark Sparrow's Grave. The place in front of their eyes was pitch-black while the sky was cold and full of rain. The rain intent did not disperse, just as it had always been.

The rain on the grave's first floor carried chills that one could feel in early spring. Hence, it was spring rain.

Ning Fan's eyes flashed with reminiscence. Holding the blood umbrella over his head, he accompanied Ming Que and walked together in the falling spring rain.

Ming Que, on the other hand, was filled with concern. She was chewing Fifth Revolution pills while looking at Ning Fan with a pleading look.

"Big Brother Biscuit, when I left the Dark Sparrow's Grave in the past, I did not say goodbye to Grandpa. He must be very worried and angry at me… When we meet him later, you must put in a good word for me. Please don't let grandpa smack my buttocks…"

"Silly girl. Your grandpa might look cold and stern but he is very nice to you. He can't be any happier to see you return. How can he still think about whacking you…? He is your grandpa. He is your family…"

"Is it true?! Will Grandpa really not beat me?!" A ray of demonic black light flickered in Ming Que's dark eyes. She immediately became cheerful again after hearing what Ning Fan said.

While she was jumping and waving her hands happily, she released a hint of her Void Inquiry Stage aura force…

During the time when Ning Fan went to the Demon Sinister Forest, Ming Que had already consumed all the pills that she had and had broken through to the Void Inquiry Stage…

When Ning Fan returned to Seven Apricot City and saw her reach the Void Inquiry Stage, he was literally speechless.

It had only been less than a year since she had broken through to the Void Glimpse Stage. She had now advanced to the Void Inquiry Stage… Wasn't her cultivation speed too terrifying?!

However, after giving it some thought, Ning Fan found that it was quite reasonable for her to break through to the Void Inquiry Stage so quickly.

Her body had been sealed with a void poison. It was a seal that Ning Fan personally placed on her forty years ago. It was the poison from the tail wing of an Immemorial Dark Sparrow and it contained an immeasurable amount of demon power.

The power that void poison contained was equivalent to the total magic power of a Void Refinement Realm cultivator.

Before breaking through to the Void Glimpse Stage, Ming Que had yet to assimilate its power.

However, after attaining the Void Glimpse Stage, she began to assimilate its demon power while nibbling on Fifth Revolution pills. Her magic power doubled within a year which made her break through to the Void Inquiry Stage so quickly…

This little pill devil was truly heaven-defying. However, she had already assimilated the void poison completely. Therefore, her cultivation base would not progress at such a terrifying speed anymore.

In order to break through to the Void Pierce Stage, the only choice she had was to eat Sixth Revolution pills…

"Big Brother Biscuit, I miss Grandpa. I miss my rain babies, wolf babies and medicine babies…" Ming Que chirped like a happy chirping bird. Ning Fan listened to her with a faint smile on his face while walking toward the lower floors.

The second floor of the Dark Sparrow's Grave was filled with summer rain.

The third floor had no rain.

Autumn rain fell on the fourth floor and ice rain fell on the fifth floor.

Ning Fan stood on the fifth floor for a long time. The pit of earth flames that he had used to concoct pills for Ming Que here in this place in the past still remained.

He could still remember the sentence which struck him back then.

What is rain? If I turn my palm, it becomes clouds. If I turn my palm again, it will rain!

All those Divine Transformation Realm demon beasts which had laughed at Ning Fan in the past immediately prostrated themselves on the ground upon seeing his appearance. None of them dared to steal a glance at him.

In their eyes, the white-robed young man who was holding a blood umbrella was too dangerous. He was someone who was capable of slaughtering every last one of the demon beasts on the fifth floor so easily!

Those ferocious beasts would never have thought that the white-robed demon appearing in front of their eyes was the insignificant Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivator from forty years ago.

"Big Brother Biscuit, they looked down on you last time. Don't you want to teach them a lesson?!" Ming Que beamed, revealing her adorable canine teeth. She adjusted her golden crown and swung her fists, like she wanted to have a fight with those ferocious beasts.

"The past is over. Let's just head to the sixth floor…"

Ning Fan gently held Ming Que's tender palm in his hand to prevent her from running around and causing unnecessary trouble.

Holding the blood umbrella over their heads, they walked past the rain of ice. The coldness was no longer bone-chilling. It could only make Ning Fan feel a bit cold.

The sixth floor of the Dark Sparrow's Grave was filled with Sword Rain!

Inducing killing intent with an intention. Summoning swords with the killing intent. Forming the rain with swords and killing others with the rain…

It was the Rain of Slaughter. However, it could no longer make Ning Fan's mind waver at all with its killing intent.

As Ning Fan walked on the sixth floor, he spread out his spirit sense to cover the vicinity of two hundred thousand li*(500m per li). Gradually, his brows drew together.

Strange. It was very strange…

There actually were not as many Void Refinement Realm ferocious beasts as there were in the past on the sixth floor.

In the past, there were more than a hundred Void Refinement Realm ferocious beasts here. Now, however, there were only five to six of them left and they seemed to be carrying serious injuries. As soon as they saw Ning Fan approach them, they instantly trembled in fear.

There were still many traces of an intense battle on the mountains and rivers all around this floor…

"Hmm? There should have been many demon babies on the sixth floor in the past. Why are there so few of them now…?" Even Ming Que had noticed the abnormal situation.

With a frown, Ning Fan spread out his spirit sense to inspect the qi of the residual magic power in the area.

The qi of the expert who destroyed the mountains and rivers here is very familiar…

"I see. So it's him who killed a vast number of Void Refinement Realm ferocious beasts here… Let's have a look at the seventh floor."

Ning Fan seemed to have an answer in mind and directly held Ming Que and headed to the seventh floor.

Forty years ago, there were six demon beasts at the First Heavenly Layer and Second Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm residing on the seventh floor. Today, however, none of them remained…

The thunder and rain on the seventh floor was still as wild and violent as back then. It still contained Que Shenzi's realization – the flat ground creates the lightning and the sky produces the rain, I want to kill!

However, the landscape within one million li* (500m per li) had flattened and could no longer be restored to its original state!

Ning Fan spread out his spirit sense and discovered six traces of extremely dense baleful qi which had lingered on the seventh floor. Each was left behind by a deceased Void Fragmentation Realm expert.

Even though Ning Fan had already figured out who killed these ferocious beasts, he was still greatly shocked by this… All six Void Fragmentation Realm ferocious beasts of the seventh floor had actually died in that person's hands!

"Hmm? The six Void Fragmentation Realm demon babies on the seventh floor are all gone as well…" Ming Que said in a surprised tone.

"They're all dead. Someone killed them." Ning Fan uttered indifferently.

"H-How come?! The six demon babies on this floor are all at the Void Fragmentation Realm. Who is so powerful to actually kill them all…? This is too scary!" Ming Que said with her mouth wide open in shock.

"Let's go and have a look at the eighth floor…"

The eight floor of the Dark Sparrow's Grave was filled with heaven defying rain!

Ning Fan and Ming Que set foot on the eight floor together. As soon as he saw the war-torn area and sensed the baleful qi that was still lingering, he immediately sighed and said.

"There is no need to look anymore. All the Void Fragmentation Realm demon beasts on the eighth floor are also all dead…"

In the past, three Void Fragmentation Realm demon beasts resided on the eight floor. Two of them were at the Third Heavenly Layer and the other one was at the Fourth Heavenly Layer… All of them had once tried to attack Ning Fan.

"So many Void Fragmentation Realm demon babies are dead. Will Grandpa be in danger too?! Who is it? Who entered the Dark Sparrow's Grave and killed so many Void Fragmentation Realm demon babies?! I want to go and find Grandpa. I'm very worried about him. He must not die!" Ming Que nearly cried out of anxiety.

Ning Fan patted her head without knowing whether to laugh or cry and comforted her.

"Silly girl, haven't you noticed it yet? The person who killed all the demon beasts from the sixth to the eighth floor was none other than your Grandpa Min Luo. Other than him, who else in the Rain World could be so powerful as to kill all the nine Void Fragmentation Realm demon beasts in the Dark Sparrow's Grave…?"

"Eh? Really? That means Grandpa is safe, right? It nearly scared me to death. I thought something bad happened to Grandpa too." Ming Que patted her chest adorably and put on her cheerful face again.

Ning Fan let out a light sigh in amazement. Even experts like Rain Sovereign and Yun Tianjue would not be able to wipe out all nine Void Fragmentation Realm beasts in the grave.

Treant Min Luo, however, managed to slaughter every last one of them with just his own strength. His cultivation base was obviously unimaginably high!

Among the nine Void Fragmentation Realm ferocious beasts, the one with the strongest cultivation base was at the Fourth Heavenly Layer. Even so, all of them still ended up dead in Min Luo's hands.

Ning Fan recalled that Min Luo had one hundred thousand Divine Transformation Realm clones in total in the past. When the demon power of one hundred thousand clones combine into one and form into a single clone, that clone's cultivation would reach the Fifth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm!

Since just his clone alone was already at the Fifth Heavenly Layer, what exactly was the cultivation base of Treant Min Luo's true body?

Ning Fan had never thought about this question in the past. Today, however, he was really interested to find out.

He and Ming Que walked to the entrance of the ninth floor. A short and small old man stood there like a tree stump. With a somber and rigid old face, he glared at Ming Que. His old turbid eyes clearly contained a hint of joy but he deliberately pretended to be fierce and scolded Ming Que.

"Humph! Naughty girl! Do you only know about coming home now? Do you know how worried I have been about you in the past forty years?!"

The short old man was Treant Min Luo's clone and his presence emanated an aura force at the Fifth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm.

When he reprimanded Ming Que coldly, she immediately felt a lump in her throat. She sat on the ground and began to cry loudly.

"Grandpa, I'm sorry. I knew my mistake. I won't do that again next time…"

As soon as Ming Que started crying, the old man immediately wore a pained expression. He walked toward her, blaming himself for what he did. He actually made the cute and naïve little Ming Que cry by scolding her. It's a mistake, a huge mistake…

"It's Grandpa's fault. I should not have scolded you. Don't cry, Ming Que." The tiny old man was at a loss. He did not know how he should coax her.

"If you let me eat a lot of medicine babies, I will stop crying…" Ming Que sobbed while looking aggrieved but her eyes contained a hint of cunning.

She might be able to hide it from Min Luo who was distracted by his concern for her but there was no way she could get past Ning Fan's eyes.

Ning Fan did not know whether to laugh or cry. Ming Que had really been corrupted by bad examples after her trip to the Endless Sea. She actually knew how to shed crocodile tears.

In order to stop Ming Que from crying, the old man naturally chose to promise her everything she wanted.

"Alright. Alright. I'll give you all the spiritual herbs you want to eat. Don't cry anymore, my little ancestor. Crying is bad for your body."

Ming Que was a Void Inquiry Stage cultivator. Would she get hurt by crying? Min Luo really pampered Ming Que too much.

Ning Fan shook his head and grabbed little Ming Que's collar, pulling her up from the ground.

"Stop crying. If you continue to cry, I will never refine pills for you to eat in the future."

"I-I… I'll stop crying. I'll stop crying immediately!" Ming Que rubbed her face against Ning Fan's sleeve, wiping off her tears and mucus, and smiled.

Min Luo was stunned for a second. He was a man with a lot of experience. However, his concern for Ming Que had clouded his judgement. At this moment, he instantly realized that he was deceived by Ming Que who was weeping crocodile tears and had no idea whether to laugh or cry.

However, upon seeing Ming Que safe and sound, he could not be even happier. Thus, he no longer put on a stern face to scold her.

When he carefully inspected Ming Que's cultivation base, his expression immediately changed and said, "It has only been forty years and you've actually assimilated all the void poison within you! Moreover, your cultivation base has reached the Void Inquiry Stage! This truly is…"

Even a super powerful expert like Min Luo was also surprised by Ming Que's terrifying progress in cultivation.

"The reason why I could improve my cultivation base and assimilate the void poison so rapidly is all thanks to Big Brother Biscuit who gave me many delicious pill biscuits…" Ming Que pulled Ning Fan's dirty sleeve and wore an affectionate expression.

Min Luo was stunned once again. Only now did he begin to observe Ning Fan carefully.

"It's you!"

Ning Fan was speechless. Apparently, Min Luo completely disregarded Ning Fan's presence and had been literally ignoring him all this time and only noticed him now.

"You've actually broken through to the Void Glimpse Stage!!!" Min Luo said in astonishment.

Little Ming Que had a pill devil physique and also possessed the royal bloodline of the Immemorial Dark Sparrow. Therefore, the sharp increase in her cultivation base was understandable.

However, based on Min Luo's previous observation, Ning Fan definitely did not have any unique physique.

Even though he cultivated an immemorial devil cultivation method, it was just the Yin Yang Transformation which was a dual-cultivation method that was not one of the best fiendgod cultivation methods.

It had only been forty years and Ning Fan's cultivation base had actually also attained the Void Refinement Realm. To Min Luo, it was much more shocking than seeing Ming Que achieve the Void Refinement Realm…

After forty years, Min Luo looked at Ning Fan with respect from a cultivation aspect for the first time.

He carefully inspected Ning Fan and felt an extremely terrifying baleful qi from him. Immediately, his old eyes widened with amazement!

The intensity of that trace of baleful qi was clearly something that one could only gain after killing an expert at the Fifth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm!

Other than a Void Fragmentation Realm baleful qi, the amount of baleful qi in Ning Fan was enough to tell how many killings he had gone through in the past forty years…

"It certainly was not an accident for this young man to have achieved the Void Refinement Realm at the age of five hundred years old! He might not have the most outstanding innate talents, but I'm afraid even some of the Void Fragmentation Realm devils in the Tree World won't be able to rival him in terms of ruthlessness!"

Min Luo put on a serious face and suddenly said with his fists cupped, "This little girl, Ming Que, had been immature to have sneaked out of the Dark Sparrow's Grave. Thank you for bringing her back safely! I, Min Luo, owe you another favor! If you face any trouble that requires my help, just tell me and I'll certainly do my best to aid you!"

Ning Fan wore a faint smile. Things had progressed even more smoothly than his expectations.

Before he had even opened his mouth, Min Luo had already promised to help him as repayment.

Ning Fan cupped his fists at Min Luo. He did not mention anything about the aid which he needed from him. Instead, he asked, "Senior, if I may be so bold, are you the one who killed the Void Fragmentation Realm ferocious beasts on the sixth, seventh and eighth floor?"

"Yes! That brat, She Ji, and the others on the eighth floor tried to attack Ming Que in the past. It's naturally impossible for me to let them go. I've killed every last one of them. As for the beasts on the other floors, *cough* they just ran out of luck. After Ming Que had sneaked out, I've been worried day in and day out. While I was in a bad mood, they still wanted to enrage me by crying and wailing annoyingly…"

There was no need for Min Luo to finish the rest. Without a doubt, Min Luo's mood was completely ruined because of Ming Que's secret departure and had killed all the Void Fragmentation Realm ferocious beasts to vent out his anger…

Min Luo sure was a violent treant. He was so brutal to everyone else except for Ming Que…

Luckily, Ning Fan had a deep relationship with Ming Que which made him a friend to Min Luo. If Min Luo ever is in a bad mood in the future, it'll be impossible for him to vent out his anger on Ning Fan.

"This junior still has one more question. What level has your true body reached?!" Ning Fan asked another question.

"Do you want to know?" Min Luo's rigid old face made an ugly smile. His old eyes flashed with a hint of pride. The answer he gave to Ning Fan gave him a jolt of surprise.

"My original body, which is a tree body, is at the level of a rogue demon!"

"Rogue demon!"

Ning Fan was shocked. The original body of the small old man with a wretched appearance actually was a rogue demon…

Rogue demons, rogue immortals and rogue devils… Individuals at these levels were already standing at the pinnacle of the Void Fragmentation Realm. There were none of them in the Three Lower Worlds.

The Nine Worlds were divided based on their strength into three different categories which were the Upper Three Worlds, Middle Three Worlds and the Lower Three Worlds.

The Upper Three Worlds include the Devil World, the Demon World and the Heaven Immortal World. They were the three strongest worlds of the Nine Worlds with old monsters at the level of rogue immortals residing there.

The Middle Three Worlds include the Immortal World, the Mountain World and the Fire World. Even though there were few Void Fragmentation Realm experts at the level of a rogue immortal in them, the strength of their cultivators was not something the denizens of the Rain World could rival.

The Lower Three Worlds were the Tree World, the Sword World and the Rain World. The Tree World and the Sword World were more powerful than the Rain World while the Rain World was the weakest of all the Nine Worlds…

Tree Demon Min Luo was born in the Tree World but he managed to cultivate to the level of rogue demon. This was truly shocking.

Unfortunately, Min Luo could not leave the Dark Sparrow's Grave. If he could, Ning Fan would only need his help once as it would be more than enough to eliminate Moksha Sovereign.

Ning Fan sighed inwardly. He could not bring Min Luo's original body out of the Dark Sparrow's Grave. What he could do at most was to bring out Min Luo's clone that was at the Fifth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm.

Besides, even if he brought the clone with him, the clone must stay within Yue Country and could not go beyond an area of fifty million li* (500m per li).

The only function of Min Luo's clone was to look after his home and protect Yue Country…

"Senior, this junior has a way that can bring your clone out of the Dark Sparrow's Grave. I wonder if you are willing to let your clone leave this place and see the scenery outside?"

"Oh? Do you have such capabilities?" Min Luo was stunned at first. Then, he gave Ning Fan a meaningful look and said with a faint smile, "Young kid, you have something that requires me help, don't you?"

"Precisely. I indeed have a method that can help your clone leave the Dark Sparrow's Grave but the range of your activity will be restricted to within fifty million li* (500m per li) of Yue Country. Moreover, it's true that I have something that needs your help… All of my family is in Yue Country and I hope you can protect them on my behalf whenever I am not around. With you around, I suppose that even if the Divine Sovereign of the Rain World comes personally, he still won't be able to hurt my loved ones." Ning Fan said earnestly.

"The Divine Sovereign of the Rain World. *Tsk* What is he? If I act personally, I can eliminate him with just a few moves… But… *chuckle* You are a little too greedy, aren't you? I merely promised to do you a favor but you actually asked me, a dignified rogue demon, to help you guard your home. I am not going to lend you a hand on this." Min Luo waved his hand and refused to help Ning Fan.

"Ming Que is also part of my family. She will stay in Yue Country and might also face danger." What Ning Fan implied was: you might not be willing to look after someone else's house, but you should be willing to do so for Ming Que, right?

As expected, when Min Luo heard that Ming Que might be in danger, his eyes flashed with hesitation. After becoming silent for some time, he stared at Ning Fan with dissatisfaction and said, "Fine! For Ming Que's sake, I will help you protect the goddamn Yue Country… However, I still want to ask you this. Do you actually have a way to let my clone leave the Dark Sparrow's Grave and have a breath of freedom outside?"

"Of course!"

"Very well! If you can really do it, helping you look after Yue Country will be the same as getting some fresh air outside. So why not?!" Min Luo burst into laughter. He had not left the Dark Sparrow's Grave for countless years.

"By the way, this junior has a question to ask you… About the Void Fragmentation Realm beasts that you've killed, did you still keep their corpses?" Ning Fan suddenly raised a question.

"Yes. They were nine Void Fragmentation Realm ferocious beasts. Their skin, flesh and demon pills are excellent items… Hmm? Do you want their corpses?"

"Indeed!" Ning Fan said candidly without any pretense.

"Oh? I'm really curious. What's the use of these corpses to you?"

"Brewing wine and refining pills!" Ning Fan's eyes glistened.

If all the essence blood of those nine Void Fragmentation Realm ferocious beasts were used for brewing the blood wine and all their flesh were used for refining Fierce Cultivation Pills, Ning fan's magic power and spirit sense would certainly increase greatly!

"I've heard about the use of corpses in pill refinement. As for wine brewing… Hehe. I haven't heard of anyone using Void Fragmentation Realm beasts to brew wine. I'm sorry. I didn't say that I would give those corpses to you. I'm also a demon. Devouring their corpses can help me increase my cultivation base…"

Before Min Luo had finished speaking, Ming Que persistently pulled his sleeve and pleaded to him. Her eyes seemed to be able to shoot out twinkling stars of innocence.

"Grandpa. My good Grandpa. Big Brother Biscuit is very nice to me. You will give those corpses to him, okay? Please…"

"If he uses those corpses to refine pills, I can also eat those pills which will also increase my magic power. Right? If you don't give those corpses to Big Brother Biscuit, then you don't truly adore me…"

Under the influence of Ming Que's naïve eyes, Min Luo helplessly let out a sigh.

"Alright. Alright! I'll give all those corpses to your Big Brother Biscuit. I don't want a single one of them. Is that alright…? *Sigh* A daughter's heart always sides with her lover. A grown girl really can't be kept at home…"

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

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