Grasping Evil

Ning Fan assimilated the Void Fragmentation Realm Dao Fruits and the blood wine into his body one after another.

He then sat in meditation all alone on the peak of a solitary mountain for one whole month.

His eyes were tightly closed shut from the start. What he was digesting was not just the Dao Fruits and the blood wine but also the Dao Comprehensions he had gained from his years of Dao Cultivation.

The magic power and qi his body emanated became stronger and stronger by the day. His body, however, gradually grew fainter and fainter, like he was going to disappear from this world.

At the Void Glimpse Stage, one sees the void as the void.

At the Void Inquiry Stage, one sees the void as not the void.

The fainter Ning Fan's body became, the deeper his understanding of 'void'.

At the age of nine hundred years old, many cultivators were still striving to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm. Ning Fan, on the other hand, was already advancing to the Void Inquiry Stage...

After one month, Ning Fan's magic power had already exceeded eight million units which far surpassed the threshold of the Void Inquiry Stage that was only at three million units.

However, he still could not break through to the Void Inquiry Stage successfully. He was still a hair's breadth away from truly crossing through the bottleneck of the cultivation realm.

"Seeing the void as not the void, huh...?"

Ning Fan took out a Void Inquiry Pill from his pouch and swallowed it.

His body became even more vague, as if he had become transparent. He looked just like a phantom...

"This is unthinkable! Despite merely being at the Void Glimpse Stage, this man's understanding of the 'void' is actually so deep and profound. Even his body is close to becoming a void body... Void-ification of the Physical Body! Among all Void Fragmentation Realm experts in the Rain World, no one managed to do it! It has no relation to one's divine abilities or cultivation base at all. It entirely depends on the cultivator's understanding of the 'void'... This kid really has terrifying comprehension!" In a demon cave located several ten million li* (500m per li) away, two Void Pierce Stage female demons were shocked and bewildered.

"Humph! So what?! He is still a Void Glimpse Stage cultivator at the end of the day. Even if he successfully attains the Void Inquiry Stage, he's still nothing more than a mere Void Inquiry Stage cultivator. No matter how good his comprehension is, it can't be used to eliminate his enemies. If it were in the future where he already broke through to the Void Pierce Stage or the Absolute Void Stage, the three of us will no longer be his match. However, if he is just at the Void Glimpse Stage or Void Inquiry Stage, he is obviously not our match! He will die in our hands for sure! Let's go. It's about time to hunt him down!"

The female demon at the Absolute Void Stage snorted disdainfully and led the two other demons to go out of the demon hole in a ray of light, dashing directly at the desolate island that Ning Fan was at.

On the island, Ning Fan's body was so faint that he looked like an illusion. Meanwhile, his understanding of 'void' was gradually rising.

He opened his eyes. With a vacant expression, he stared at the black and quiet void space beneath the space barrier.

While his body was gradually turning into void, he vaguely felt that his hand had caught hold of something...

That was... the soul of the void!

He was slightly taken aback by it. Then, he raised his hand and touched the sky. The hollow space within several ten thousand li* (500m per li) around him started to break apart. After that, he reached out his hand to the endless void.

He felt that his hand had grabbed hold of something even though he was doing it from a distance...

"So this is the soul of the void, huh?... Soul Extraction!"

At this moment, Ning Fan had extracted the soul of the void within a few ten thousand li* (500m per li) using his void body.

If he infused the soul of the void into his body, it would certainly enhance his magic power greatly within a short period of time!

The categorization of the Soul Extraction Technique from low to high-level was: extracting the soul of the great earth, extracting the soul of the void, extracting the souls of the sun, moon and stars, and extracting the soul of the Heavenly Dao.

When Lightning Emperor Tai Su took over Ning Fan's body in the past, he used the comprehension of the Oneness of Heaven and Human to invent the soul extraction technique that had enabled him to extract the souls of the Six Dao. That technique, however, was not something he could display at the moment. Besides, it was not a technique that he had gained through his own understanding.

Today, however, Ning Fan had heard the breathing of the soul of the void and managed to extract it. Doubtlessly, he had already improved his Soul Extraction Technique to the second level!

Ning Fan knew that if he used this technique after breaking through to the Void Inquiry Stage, he would possess Void Pierce Stage magic power within a short period of time with its help!

"With my increased understanding of the 'void', I actually managed to extract the soul of the void... This is truly a welcome surprise..."

Ning Fan dispersed the soul of the void from the center of his palm, allowing the hollow space within several ten thousand li* (500m per li) to recover. Then, he closed his eyes again.

As he continued to digest the Void Inquiry Pill, his understanding of the 'void' became deeper and deeper. Past memories flashed through his mind.

Adopted by the Ning Clan as an orphan, to being framed by others while he was a servant. Falling into the devil path as a mortal, to travelling the Rain World as a devil cultivator...

He still remembered the dismal and despairing night when he was bullied and humiliated by countless female devil cultivators in Li Hen Mountain. He still remembered the sadness and warmth he felt in the snowy and windy Seven Apricot City.

He still remembered the loneliness and the bloodshed throughout his journey. He also remembered the times where he and his women shared life and death together...

The bloodshed in cultivation. The past grudges. Everything passed by so suddenly like a dream, just like the void...

However, be it sadness or joy, it all felt so real throughout his journey.

Ning Fan slowly opened his eyes. They looked calm but stubborn. His mind was lingering at the two words – true and void. He had now finally captured the idea of the Void Inquiry Stage's bottleneck...

"I want to achieve the Void Inquiry Stage!"

All of a sudden, a Void Inquiry Stage aura force surged abruptly from within Ning Fan's body, spreading across several hundred thousand li* (500m per li) around the island.

He suddenly rose to his feet, standing on the peak of the mountain. His void body returned to being solid and tangible again.

At this moment, his cultivation base officially broke through to the Void Inquiry Stage!

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Meanwhile, countless purple tribulation clouds appeared in the sky above!

The purple tribulations clouds were accompanied with terrifying lightning. The entire mass of clouds stretched to one million li* (500m per li) around the island. Its force was incredibly shocking as its power was close to a heavenly tribulation that a Void Fragmentation Realm expert would face!

At the tip of the purple lightning clouds, a ten thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) tall giant wearing purple armor stood with a cold face. His body was covered with ancient runes while his hand held an extremely huge and thick lightning chain!

"They're the purple lightning tribulation clouds! And another Dao Guardian appeared as well!" Inside the Profound Yin World, Luo You's eyes were filled with shock.

The heavenly tribulations that cultivators at the First Step of cultivation would face were separated into three different types.

The heavenly tribulations that cultivators who have yet to attain the Divine Transformation Realm would face are all lightning tribulations. After that, they would face fire tribulations. For Void Fragmentation Realm cultivators, they would face freezing wind tribulations.

Generally speaking, Void Inquiry Stage heavenly tribulation would usually be fire tribulations and would not be any other kinds of heavenly tribulations.

Generally speaking, it was impossible for ordinary cultivators to face tribulations personally summoned by a Dao Guardian. Only those great devil lords would be personally eliminated by the Dao Guardians...

Thus, it was obvious that the heavenly tribulation that Ning Fan was about to face was out of the ordinary. He had already been targeted by the Heavenly Dao of the Lower Realm. There had never been a cultivator who faced a Void Inquiry Stage heavenly tribulation that had Void Fragmentation Realm power...

The Heavenly Dao of the Lower Realm previously sent Giant Zhi Huo to kill Ning Fan with fire tribulations but Ning Fan survived.

It seemed to know that Ning Fan possessed a supreme treasure that could restrain flames as it no longer summoned a fire tribulation but a purple lightning tribulation instead. It seemed like it really wanted to kill him in a single try!

This kind of lightning tribulation was extremely rare. The purple lightning tribulations that the tribulation clouds released could turn into lightning chains that could restrain any cultivator below the Void Fragmentation Realm. Even an expert at the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm would not be able to withstand the lightning chains with ease!

"What a powerful lightning tribulation. Even though I possess the Tai Su Lightning Diagram, it will not be easy to deal with it!" Ning Fan's expression became extremely serious.

Ten thousand li* (500m per li) away from the desolate island, the Three Phoenix Maidens were hiding somewhere there, lying in wait to attack Ning Fan after he dealt with the heavenly tribulation.

Originally, the three demonesses held contempt for Ning Fan's capabilities. However, after seeing those extremely fearsome purple lightning tribulation clouds, all of them were so shocked that they were at a loss for words.

When they saw the purple lightning giant standing above those clouds, blood drained from their faces.

"A Dao Guardian! A messenger of the heavenly tribulation had actually personally come to summon the tribulation upon this man!"

"How is this possible?! How can this be possible?! According to ancient books, a Dao Guardian will only personally summon tribulations on cultivators who have committed a monstrous amount of killings. That Void Glimpse Stage... No. That Void Inquiry Stage man... Could he be someone who had slaughtered countless people??!"

"A Dao Guardian at the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm... Scary. This is really too scary! The purple lightning tribulation clouds have covered the sky within one million li* (500m per li). The entire desolate island is within the range of the heavenly tribulation. The three of us can't get close and ambush that man at all. Otherwise, we will be attacked by the heavenly tribulation as well and would instantly turn into ashes!"

The three demonesses were surprised by the terrifying force of the heavenly tribulation that Ning Fan was facing. None of them harbored the intention to hunt down Ning Fan any longer and they only wanted to escape from this place to avoid getting involved with him and being attacked by the messenger of the heavenly tribulation.

Unfortunately, it was already too late for the three of them to think of fleeing at this moment.

A few purple lightning arcs which were floating randomly in the air suddenly transformed into purple lightning chains and tightly bound the three ladies.

With their cultivation realms, they literally had no capability to break free from the purple lightning chains. All of them suffered severe injuries at once!

The purple lightning was slowly eating away at their bodies. Even if they use up all their demon power to defend against the purple lightning, their injuries would still gradually worsen little by little.

Even though their lives were not in immediate danger, they could not break free from the chains! If they let their injuries continue to worsen, it would be only a matter of time before they would breathe their last!

The three ladies were clearly standing ten thousand li* (500m per li) outside the range of the heavenly tribulation. But they were already so battered and worn out after just being affected by some random arcs of tribulation lightning.

It was conceivable how dangerous Ning Fan's situation was since he was directly standing at the center of the lightning tribulation's attacks.

"I'm Zi Dian. Since you've captured Zhi Huo, I'll certainly use all of my strength to kill you on behalf of the Heavenly Dao! The Heavenly Dao as the shackles, you as the prisoner... Lock!"

Giant Zi Dian's voice was like thunderclap with his breath like a tempestuous storm. As he spoke, it made Ning Fan's eardrums hurt.

When the giant raised a stretch of lightning chain, the heavenly tribulation clouds within one million li* (500m per li) shot out hundreds of millions of purple lightning rays which turned into countless lightning chains to bind Ning Fan.

Those lightning chains were formed from lightning which had unimaginable speed. In a single breath, it could travel six hundred thousand li* (500m per li). Even an Absolute Void Stage expert's speed was incapable of such.

Ning Fan also acted as fast as lightning. In an instant, he fully activated the one hundred layers of Mortal Void Grade formations.

At the next second, hundreds of millions of purple lightning rays bombarded the Mortal Void Grade formations.

*Bang*

Forty plus layers of Mortal Void Grade formations immediately shattered. The desolate island was nearly sunk from the massive force. However, Ning Fan eventually managed to withstand the innumerable purple lightning rays.

With the help of the formations, Ning Fan had managed to withstand the first wave of lightning tribulations from the giant!

"Mm?"

Giant Zi Dian was somewhat surprised. He did not expect that Ning Fan would be so well-prepared as the latter actually set up so many Mortal Void Grade grand formations to block the heavenly tribulation.

He clawed at the air using his huge hand. The purple lightning arcs which filled the sky condensed into a lightning chain. Then, he threw his lightning chain at the sky once more.

After just a few breaths, the second wave of lightning tribulation came again!

The power of the second wave of lightning tribulation was much more terrifying than the first wave. With just a single hit, all the remaining grand formations were destroyed.

The leftover purple lightning tribulation turned into multiple lightning chains and rushed at Ning Fan at a frightening speed.

Staring at the incoming purple chains in the sky, an overwhelming sense of danger rose within his heart.

Once he is bound by the purple lightning chains, it would be extremely difficult to break free.

"This Giant Zi Dian is determined to kill me. No matter how many times I withstand the heavenly tribulation, he will still continue to summon lightning. Instead of dragging this out, it's better to make it a quick one!"

Ning Fan made a stomp on the peak of the mountain, immediately turning the entire mountain into countless pieces of broken rocks. Then, a large blood-red lightning diagram appeared below his feet, taking in all the purple lightning which were headed to Ning Fan.

After that, he took out the ancient golden sword from his pouch and hopped onto its tip.

He tossed out countless Dao Crystals and immortal jade with a wave of his hand. At the next second, he turned into a pure golden sword light and swiftly dashed toward the giant at a speed comparable to the Void Fragmentation Realm!

"You're courting death!"

Seeing Ning Fan actually had the guts to charge at him, Giant Zi Dian's eyes were filled with anger.

He was a Dao Guardian, a messenger of the heavenly tribulation, a Void Fragmentation Realm puppet that exercised power on behalf of Heaven! In the long river of time, he had summoned purple lightning tribulations on a few ruthless devil lords in the Nine Worlds of the Lower Realm.

Each of those devil lords was considered peerless ferocious devils that were unrivalled, past or present. However, they were still filled with fear upon facing the terrifying purple lightning of Giant Zi Dian.

Ning Fan, however, was different. His eyes did not have the slightest hint of fear but only a strong battle intent. He vowed to put up a fight against the heavenly tribulation!

The look on his face that had no fear for Heaven's might made Giant Zi Dian seethe with anger.

From his perspective, Ning Fan literally disdained Heaven's might and could not be forgiven!

Without any hesitation, Giant Zi Dian clawed at the air using his large hand, summoning the third wave of lightning tribulation on Ning Fan!

Ning Fan did not slow down. He fearlessly flew at the clusters of purple lightning in the sky and took out a fiery-red figurine from his pouch.

The figurine grew in the air and instantly turned into a fire giant.

Just as the fire giant appeared, he received Ning Fan's command and hurled a punch at the purple lightning in the sky without hesitation. The power of the Void Fragmentation Realm attack directly destroyed all of the purple lightning!

The third wave of purple lightning was still blocked!

"Zhi Huo, how dare you go against Heaven! What has become of you, a slave of the Heavenly Dao?!" Giant Zi Dian roared in rage.

"I only have one master!" Zhi Huo said with a blank expression.

Giant Zi Dian would obviously not know that Ning Fan had captured Giant Zhi Huo using the Life Imprisonment Technique of the Ancestral Emperor of the Northern Heaven and wiped away his spiritual intelligence which turned him into a killer puppet that would only obey Ning Fan's commands and would no longer follow any orders from the Heavenly Dao of the Mortal Realm.

Giant Zhi Huo charged at Giant Zi Dian, breaking each of the tribulation clouds along his path and stood facing the latter from afar.

Faced with Giant Zhi Huo, even Giant Zi Dian felt a hint of pressure. In terms of their cultivation realms, he was a little weaker than Zhi Huo.

The current Giant Zi Dian no longer had the intention to summon tribulations to attack Ning Fan and would face Zhi Huo with full focus. He did not have the idea of handling Ning Fan anymore.

As Ning Fan gave a command, Giant Zhi Huo swung his fire fists and delivered a volley of attacks at Giant Zi Dian like torrential rain.

Giant Zi Dian also hurled his purple lightning fists to fight against Zhi Huo.

As the two Void Fragmentation Realm puppets fought, the sky within one million li* (500m per li) cracked, releasing strong gusts of wind which assailed the faces of the three demonesses and made their cheeks feel pain. Their eyes were filled with deep terror.

"H-He is crazy! He is literally a madman to actually have a Void Fragmentation Realm puppet and the nerve to fight against a messenger of the heavenly tribulation. Isn't he afraid of offending the Heavenly Dao?!"

"No. Younger sister, haven't you noticed it yet?! The Void Fragmentation Realm puppet of that madman is another Dao Guardian! He has already thoroughly offended the Heavenly Dao of the Lower Realm. That's why his Void Inquiry Stage heavenly tribulation is so terrifying. That's why he set up one hundred layers of Mortal Void Grade grand formations to face his heavenly tribulation!"

"If we only knew that he's that crazy, we wouldn't have dared to come and capture him even if we are forced to do so with our lives on the line. That's it for us now. All three of us are trapped here by the purple lightning of the heavenly tribulation..."

The faces of the three demonesses were filled with remorse. They regretted getting themselves involved in this.

They wished that they could immediately get out of here. Unfortunately, they were trapped here by the purple lightning, rendering them immobile...

Ning Fan stepped on the ancient golden sword, traversing columns of purple lightning tribulation clouds and dashed straight toward Giant Zi Dian.

Ning Fan had to sacrifice fifty thousand years of life to capture Giant Zhi Huo last time. This time, he also wanted to subdue Giant Zi Dian. However, it was unknown how many years of life he would need to use.

Compared to the previous occasion, his current situation was slightly better.

Ning Fan's magic power had experienced a great improvement compared to the previous time and Giant Zi Dian was slightly weaker than Giant Zhi Huo. Therefore, the difficulty of capturing Giant Zi Dian would naturally be lesser than the last time and the amount of life he would need to sacrifice to capture him should naturally be lesser...

After consuming some Life Prolonging Pills and the Life Reduction Pills of the Shedding Orchid Sect, Ning Fan was only left with fifty thousand plus years of lifespan, which should be enough for him to capture Giant Zi Dian...

However, after subduing that giant, he certainly would not have much lifespan left.

If another Void Fragmentation Realm puppet appears once again when he breaks through to the Void Pierce Stage in the future, he probably would not have enough lifespan to capture them anymore...

Moreover, the Void Inquiry Stage heavenly tribulation he was facing right now was already comparable to the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm. The heavenly tribulation he would face during the Void Pierce Stage would probably be much more frightening...

"Silly younger brother, so you do understand now how troublesome it is to offend the Heavenly Dao of the Lower Realm, don't you? The Void Pierce Stage heavenly tribulation you'll face in the future is probably going to be much more difficult to deal with... Besides, there is still the Absolute Void Stage heavenly tribulation, the Void Fragmentation Realm heavenly tribulation... *Chuckle* I already couldn't dare to imagine how dangerous it will be when you break through to the Void Fragmentation Realm. Perhaps you really will die to one of those heavenly tribulations~" Luo You seemed like she was mocking Ning Fan but her words contained her concern for him.

"Well, there are no other options for me since I've already offended the Heavenly Dao of the Lower Realm. From the moment I captured Giant Zhi Huo, this path has already been predestined... Since I can't turn back now, why should I regret it?!"

Ning Fan suddenly kept the ancient golden sword and stood one hundred thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) away from Giant Zi Dian.

His eyes gradually turned cold and dignified. His life force was quickly being drained away, losing nearly thirty thousand years of life. A vast and boundless aura force rose around his body, making it like he stood at the top of all living beings!

His right eye slowly closed. Meanwhile, a black crescent mark suddenly emerged in his left eye.

The moment the crescent mark appeared, cold sweat ran down Giant Zi Dian's back. He turned around in disbelief and met Ning Fan's ice cold eyes.

"Zi Dian, from today onwards, you will be my second heavenly tribulation puppet!"

"Impossible! This is impossible! Ah!"

Giant Zi Dian's entire body trembled. Indescribable agony overwhelmed him and countless black crescent marks covered his whole body.

He wanted to resist these crescent moon marks but Ning Fan suddenly approached him and wiped his spiritual intelligence!

The purple lightning tribulation clouds in the sky gradually dissipated and Giant Zi Dian's eyes slowly turned blank.

A loud thud echoed throughout the sky as Giant Zi Dian abruptly fell to his knees in front of Ning Fan and kowtowed to him respectfully. With a choppy voice, he said, "Zi Dian... greets Master!"

In the Profound Yin World, Luo You let out a gentle sigh and put on a helpless look.

"This silly younger brother actually captured another heavenly tribulation puppet. He must be crazy... I've really got nothing left to say to him..."

Ten thousand li* (500m per li) away from the desolate island, the tribulation clouds dispersed as Ning Fan had successfully subdued Giant Zi Dian. The purple lightning chains on the three demonesses had also vanished.

The moment the purple lightning chains disappeared, their faces were extremely pale. However, they did not even bother to suppress their injuries as they desperately fled into the distance!

Terrifying! It was too terrifying! The man whom they tried to hunt down was actually such a frightening madman who possessed a heavenly tribulation puppet and had literally captured a second heavenly tribulation puppet in front of them... Putting aside his cultivation base, having two Void Fragmentation Realm puppets as trump cards were enough for him to travel around the Rain World unhindered and strike fear into the hearts of Void Fragmentation Realm old monsters in the Rain World...

If they, the Three Phoenix Maidens, mess with Ning Fan with their insignificant cultivation, it would be no different to seeking their own deaths!

"Trying to flee?"

Ning Fan's eyes flashed with a cold glint. He pointed his finger at Zhi Huo and Zi Dian to turn them into figurines and kept them in his pouch.

Then, he hopped onto the ancient golden sword and flew toward the direction where the three demonesses were escaping.

The ancient golden sword was travelling nearly as fast as a Void Fragmentation Realm expert. How could the three demonesses outrun him?!

As soon as they sensed that Ning Fan was after them, all three of them felt a tingling sensation across their scalps with despair written all over their faces.

"I-It's over! That malevolent man is coming for us! We're doomed!"

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