Grasping Evil - Chapter 222

Chapter 222: Chapter 222 Xu Rushan!

The black cloud dispersed and an elderly man in black robes appeared.

This person had silver white hair with a body that was thin and bony. Despite that, his body emanated a heavy aura. It was not fierce. Instead, it was as thick and heavy as a mountain. It made Ning Fan feel that he could break the heavens and pulverize the earth with just his finger or fist.

The old pair of eyes on his wrinkled face were sharp like those of an eagle.

On the center of his forehead, there was an illusory half-formed black star, glittering faintly.

When he stood in the sky, anyone would feel that he was like nature itself.

A trace of Primordial Magnetic Force disrupted the magnetic force of the mineral veins at the bottom of the ocean. It even pierced through Ning Fan’s Sea of Consciousness, inflicting a mild pain on his spirit sense.

Early Divine Transformation Realm… Xu Rushan!

Ning Fan’s face turned somber. The expert before him gave him an extremely strong sense of pressure, making him feel that the person in front of him was not a person but an enormous mountain.

He knew the power that inflicted pain to his spirit sense was the Primordial Magnetic Force.

It’s really extraordinary.

The half black star in the center of his forehead resembled an Immemorial Devil Star.

Even though he did not possess Immemorial Devil or Divine Veins, he still managed to congeal half of an Immemorial Devil Star. He might just have half of the star, but it was enough to prove that he was an expert with great talent.

Ning Fan pondered about the intention of his sudden appearance without any fear.

To him, Xu Rushan was much more powerful than the rest of the cultivators he met in the External Endless Sea. He alone could have wiped out all the Nascent Soul Realm experts in the External Endless Sea. In terms of the aura he emanated, it was much stronger than the spiritual puppet, Stone Warrior.

Of course, Stone Warrior’s combat power should be comparable to him as aura was just an external factor. In fact, his combat power might even be slightly weaker than the female corpse. Even if Ning Fan faces him alone, he had 30% assurance of finishing him off with his Yuan Yao Jade. However, there was a higher chance that he would die in his hands as well… A Nascent Soul Realm cultivator battling against a Divine Transformation Realm expert… If he could not win, then he would definitely be dead. There was a 30% chance of winning, but 70% chance of dying as well.

From Late Nascent Soul Realm onwards, there would be an immeasurably vast difference between each of the small cultivation realms.

As for Xu Rushan, he was an expert who had a higher cultivation level than Ning Fan by a large and small cultivation realm.

(Late Nascent Soul Realm [Ning Fan’s current cultivation realm],

Peak Nascent Soul Realm [a small cultivation realm gap from Ning Fan’s],

Early Divine Transformation Realm [a large cultivation realm gap from Nascent Soul Realm])

This person’s attitude is rather weird…

He wants to ask for my help and promised to give me 50 drops of Profound Liquid of Mother Earth as a reward for helping him…

500 units of magic power. If Ning Fan acquires this much magic power, he would even try to break through the bottleneck of the Peak Nascent Soul Realm and become a true expert of that realm.

This person is a respectable Divine Transformation Realm expert. The only possible reason that made him request for my help is either he knows that I am a Fifth Revolution Pill Master or something regarding the Secret Realm of the Broken World.

Other than those reasons, there was nothing worth it for a Divine Transformation Realm expert like him to specifically seek for Ning Fan’s help. As for the Secret Realm of the Broken World, any expert at the Divine Transformation Realm would be forbidden to enter. Since Ning Fan was the strongest cultivator below the Divine Transformation Realm, he would be the most reliable person to seek help from.

But this Xu Rushan had been hiding in this place for quite some time. Maybe he was already here when he knew that Su Yao and the group of female cultivators faced danger. After all, he also belonged to one of the top ten sects of the External Endless Sea. He would not want the sect master of Bi Yao Sect to be humiliated in his territory.

However, Ning Fan’s emergence made him give up on his thoughts of saving them.

He did not act immediately and helped Ning Fan eliminate his enemies because of two reasons.

Firstly, he wanted to observe Ning Fan’s power to see whether this cultivator was qualified to rope in.

Secondly, he wanted to borrow Ning Fan’s hands to kill the black monks and make the latter the great enemy of the Black Buddha Sect.

After searching Milian’s memories, Ning Fan found out that one of the Divine Transformation Realm old monsters from the Black Buddha Sect would be present at the Pleasure Devil Sea… His presence was due to the auction of a Divine Transformation Realm human cauldron.

It was a secret that only a few top-ranking officers and elders of the Black Buddha Sect would know. Besides, before Ning Fan came, he did not even have a single clue about the auction of a Divine Transformation Realm that was going to be held soon. The important point was that the Divine Transformation Realm of the Black Buddha Sect who would arrive a few days later should have already known that the experts from his sect had been killed. In other words, he was going to find trouble with Ning Fan when he arrives.

Xu Rushan is probably planning on using the Black Buddha Sect to threaten me…

The so-called request he has is actually just a combination of threat with inducement…

“Oh? I wonder what request Senior Xu has for me. Junior is all ears to listen.” Ning Fan smiled and cupped his fist towards Xu Rushan while maintaining his calm.

Xu Rushan did not change his expression but secretly, he sucked in a cold breath.

Despite my Divine Transformation Realm aura and the intimidating pressure of the Primordial Magnetic Force, he could still maintain his composure.

In actual reality, experts at the Peak Nascent Soul Realm would find it impossible to stay calm and tranquil even when they are a thousand zhang* away from Xu Rushan.

But this Zhou Ming did not appear to be affected by him even though he was just within a vicinity of five hundred zhang* from Xu Rushan.

Reputation comes from real distinction. The title of “The Strongest Below Divine Transformation Realm” really fits him.

The more he studied Ning Fan, the more he felt amazed.

From Ning Fan’s body, he sensed countless qi such as the qi of demon blood, corpse qi, devil qi, sword qi… He could tell that this Ning Fan cultivated different kinds of cultivation methods.

Among those different types of qi, there were some that could make him feel threatened.

That is to say, if Ning Fan who seemed harmless on the surface goes all-out to fight him, there would be a high chance that he would be injured.

Now, it was more justifiable that Ning Fan did not fear Xu Rushan.

Xu Rushan tried to probe Ning Fan by approaching the latter step-by-step, shortening the distance between them.

400 zhang*, 300 zhang*, 200*… When there was only a hundred zhang* left, Xu Rushan stopped and his eyes flashed in surprise.

Ning Fan was nearly exposed to all of his pressure without any protection when they were so close to each other. However, Ning Fan did not even flinch. Instead, he was still maintaining the smile on his face.

On the contrary, the imminent danger that Xu Rushan felt intensified when he got closer to Ning Fan.

Moreover, he had an absurd feeling that if he goes to ten zhang* near to Ning Fan, his life might be at risk.

“This man does not just have techniques to hurt me but also methods to kill me.”

Xu Rushan gradually withdrew his aura and his gaze became solemn.

He no longer carried any pride when facing Ning Fan. The way he treated him was similar to treating experts at the same level as him.

He cupped his fists towards Ning Fan in return and said, “Fellow Daoist Zhou really has good calmness and techniques…”

Those who could make him cup his fists out of politeness were only Divine Transformation Realm experts. Among all the cultivators below that cultivation realm, Ning Fan was the first who could make him do so.

“Hehe. Thank you for your compliments, Senior Xu. However, Senior Xu has yet to solve my confusion. What is Senior Xu’s request for me? Could it be something related to the Secret Realm of the Broken World?”

“This information is confidential. I hope Fellow Daoist Zhou will dismiss any unnecessary people first…” Xu Rushan glanced at the female corpse beside him and shook his head.

This woman did not seem to have any magic power but she could float in the air like them.

She appeared quite strange to him but he thought that she was likely to be Ning Fan’s wife. Anyhow, women weren’t supposed to hear the discussions of men. At least, that was the tradition.

“She is no stranger… In fact, I have dismissed all the outsiders.” Ning Fan replied with a smile.

Su Yao whom he had just met for not more than a few times was considered an outsider. Yu Long, was undoubtedly an outsider. However, the female corpse was not.

“If that is the case, this old man will quit beating around the bush. Let’s talk in my Immortal’s Abode Magical Treasure…”

Xu Rushan took out a golden house which was the size of his palm. With just a slap on it, the golden house grew.

He gestured Ning Fan to go in but the latter shook his head in disagreement.

“Let’s talk here. If anyone dares to eavesdrop, I’ll just kill him.”

Xu Rushan chuckled. He kept his treasure but deep inside, he was shocked for the third time by Ning Fan.

The first time was when Ning Fan, a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, was not even amazed when he saw an Immortal’s Abode Magical Treasure. In fact, it wasn’t something that could be owned by any ordinary Divine Transformation Realm expert. Furthermore, it was a gift bestowed upon him by the Venerated Giant.

For the second time, he was astonished by Ning Fan’s alertness. The latter refused to enter into his treasure as if he had a clear understanding of the functions of a treasure of that kind. Formations could be established within the treasure as a trap to attack the enemies.

On his third time, he was amazed by Ning Fan’s words. They were cruel and merciless. It proved that Ning Fan was clearly an expert who had been through countless bloodbath and would kill with no hesitation.

With such qualifications and attitude, he will likely succeed in accomplishing the task that I am going to assign to him.

Hai. Besides, he’s the only one I can rely on now. Otherwise, it would be impossible to gather 200 Demon Pills of Fake Wild Beast… Venerated Giant is pressing me for those pills…

Although Xu Rushan did not converse much with Ning Fan, he could understand the latter’s personality and strength well after a series of probing, observation and analysis.

After keeping the treasure, he hesitated for a moment and took out a dark golden jade slip from his storage pouch.

There were three golden marks engraved on the jade slip and one of them was broken. They were the ‘Message Fragmenting Marks’. They were used to prevent others from spying upon the jade slip as not even experts at Divine Transformation Realm could erase the marks.

Three golden marks meant that this particular jade slip could only be read three times. After three times, the golden marks would disappear and the jade slip would self-destruct.

One of the marks was broken because Xu Rushan had read it once.

Other than Xu Rushan, no other people got access to the jade slip. It was enough to prove how precious this jade slip was.

Moreover, Ning Fan caught a whiff of devil qi from the jade slip. Even though the qi was faint, it nearly caused his Nascent Soul to collapse.

Such tremendous devil qi… The expert who imprinted this jade slip must be unimaginably powerful.

Among all the cultivators he had seen in the External Endless Sea, he had yet to meet anyone with such heaven-shockingly powerful devil qi.

He did not immediately took the jade slip. Instead, he gently shook his head as he knew that it must be related to something rather significant.

If he reads it, he would have to promise to do Xu Rushan’s request no matter what.

“I think it’s better that Senior gives me a brief idea of the matter. If it is something important, I don’t dare to act rashly.”

“Oh? Fellow Daoist sure is a very cautious person. You’re clearly a person that can be entrusted with an important matter…Hai. Let me be frank with you. It is actually similar to your expectation as it truly is related to the Secret Realm of the Broken World. In fact, it is just hunting Fake Wild Beasts and gathering their Demon Pills. However, …hai… the number of Demon Pills needed is a little… a little too many. Moreover, the deadline for the task is approaching fast…”

“Number? Deadline?” Ning Fan muttered to himself.

If he just wants to request my help in gathering Demon Pills of Fake Wild Beasts, it would be unnecessary for him to behave in that manner. I wonder how large the number he needs that it was able to make him lose his composure.

“The Secret Realm of the Broken World only opens once in every fifty years. Every time it opens, only forty cultivators are allowed to enter and it will stay open for one year for cultivators to enter the world and accumulate the Demon Pills of Fake Wild Beasts. But this time, because of the urgency in the completion of the task, the place was forcefully activated half a year in advance. Therefore, the Secret Realm is not as stable as usual and it can only last for half a year… Within such a short duration, I must gather… 200 Demon Pills of Fake Wild Beasts. Let me be bold and ask you a question, does Fellow Daoist have enough confidence to kill 200 Fake Wild Beasts within half a year?”

“200 Demon Pills in half a year? Senior Xu thinks too highly of junior.”

Ning Fan’s eyes flashed in a color of surprise.

It’s out of my expectations that this Xu Rushan would be begging for my help. Killing 200 Fake Wild Beasts in just half a year… That is to say, once I enter into the Secret Realm, I need to at least kill a lot of Fake Wild Beasts which have power comparable to a Divine Transformation Realm expert… I’m afraid killing one per day would not suffice…

Killing two hundred Divine Transformation Realm experts… If Ning Fan had such power, he would have already conquered the entire Internal Endless Sea. If he is that strong, he would not have needed to explore the Secret Realm of the Broken World.

Ning Fan stood in silence without saying yes or no. As for Xu Rushan, he began to feel a little impatient.

He had witnessed Ning Fan’s power. The latter could even make him feel a feeling of danger. There was no one below the Divine Transformation Realm that was at his level.

Every Peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivator who were capable of killing a single Fake Wild Beast in the Secret Realm were considered as strong experts. In the past, the most Xu Rushan could get from tens of Peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivators were just a dozen Demon Pills.

But this time, he must gather 200 Demon Pills without any excuses. Otherwise, his head would fall.

Other than Ning Fan, he really did not have any hope on anyone else. He felt that even the other Peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, including those descendants of the Venerated Seven of the Internal Endless Sea could not rival Ning Fan.

As a Divine Transformation Realm expert as well as the trusted follower of Venerated Giant who was one of the Venerated Seven, Xu Rushan rarely lowered his head down to others. However, today was the first time in his life where he put up a smiling face in order to please someone.

“Hehe. Fellow Daoist Zhou, if you help me this time, I will owe you a big favor. If you meet difficulties in the future, I will definitely aid you even though I have to go through a mountain of swords and a sea of flames. To validate my promise, I will swear the Great Oath of Heart’s Devil after you accomplish the task. Moreover, the Venerated Giant will show favoritism towards you. The next time you enter the Internal Endless Sea, you will have a powerful force backing you. Of course, if killing 200 Fake Wild Beasts is difficult for you, I will search for others to reduce your burden. But Fellow Daoist has to at least gather 10 of the pills. Other than exchanging one drop the Profound Liquid of Mother Earth for each of the pills, this old man will give you another 50 drops of the liquid in extra. Try to imagine if Fellow Daoist collects 200 Demon Pills… You will gain a total of 2500 units of magic power. With that amount of magic power, it will be easy for you to attain the Peak Nascent Soul Realm.”

“…”

Ning Fan did not utter a single word. But his eyes seemed to blaze with fire.

He wanted to think over this matter in a more thorough manner. Xu Rushan might be humble when he was begging him, but he could not imagine what would happen if he failed to fulfill his promise. He was afraid that Xu Rushan might go mad and vent out his anger on him.

200 Fake Wild Beasts… Even though it is reduced to only 10 of them, it’s still not a trivial task.

Although those Fake Wild Beasts were not exactly comparable to genuine ones were not difficult to kill if Ning Fan approaches them one by one, but who knows whether the beasts moved alone or stayed in groups…

Perhaps he might find beasts which were left out by their groups, but there was still a possibility that he would have to face groups of beasts if he really wants to kill 200 of them. Just by thinking of the scene where he had to fight against a group of beasts with each of them having power comparable to a Divine Transformation Realm expert was enough to make his scalp go numb.

It would be much easier if I can bring in Stone Warrior and the female corpse… Unfortunately, no Divine Transformation Realm experts are allowed to enter… It seems I can only rely on myself.

So, should I promise him or reject it?

If I reject his offer, I am going to miss the opportunity to obtain more than 200 drops of the Profound Liquid of Mother Earth.

200 drops of that liquid is equivalent to 2000 units of magic power. If I complete this task, I would have finished one fifth of the journey in attaining Divine Transformation Realm.

As for the favor that Xu Rushan’s owe him… Truth to be told, Ning Fan did not really feel anything precious about having an Early Divine Transformation expert owe him a favor.

While Ning Fan was deep in contemplation, the female corpse was quietly holding the corner of his sleeve. But Xu Rushan was extremely nervous.

It would be a dream come true if I can enter the Secret Realm. Killing the Fake Wild Beasts is a piece of cake. Unfortunately, Divine Transformation Realm experts like me are forbidden to enter…

It was so rare to have a “monster” like Ning Fan that had heaven-defying combat power in the Endless Sea after thousands of years. Other than him, Xu Rushan had no confidence in anyone else…

Xu Rushan was one of the top thirteen Divine Transformation Realm experts in the External Endless Sea. However, Venerated Giant could eradicate an outstanding being like him by just moving a single finger.

“Junior needs to understand the habits, power and techniques of the Fake Wild Beasts. Only then could I assure you whether I have the capability of killing 200 Fake Wild Beasts. But before that, I intend to read Senior Xu’s jade slip. Of course, after I have read it, I can’t guarantee that I will promise to help you. Therefore, it’s Senior Xu’s decision whether to let me see the jade slip.”

Xu Rushan’s face abnormally twitched.

This Zhou Ming is truly not simple.

However, if he placed himself in Ning Fan’s shoes, he would be even more cautious and contemplative than the latter.

“Take it. Remember, never leak any of the content within the jade slip. Otherwise, this old man will hunt you down to the most remote corners of the globe, even if you are already a Divine Transformation Realm expert.”

“Don’t worry Senior. My mouth is very reliable…Hmm… The spirit sense within is tremendous…”

When Ning Fan pressed the jade slip against his forehead, his eyes turned clear.

The moment he spread his spirit sense to study the jade slip, a vigorous spirit sense with unparalleled power gushed towards him.

There was a domineering black Divine Intent within this spirit sense. It was ferocious and strong. When it appeared, Ning Fan’s Nascent Soul almost shattered. He felt that his spirit became weak as if his heart was suppressed by Mount Tai.

He retreated a few steps and the blood and qi on his chest were in chaos. However, not even retreating could relieve him from the effects of the vigorous Divine Intent. Without hesitation, the Divine Intent of Rain flashed in his eyes. In just a blink of an eye, the black snow stopped and light rain fell from the sky within a vicinity of a thousand li*. Ning Fan regained his balance.

The Divine Intent of Rain?

Xu Rushan narrowed his eyes.

At the eighth step, Ning Fan used the Divine Intent of Rain to ward off the domineering Divine Intent within the spirit sense.

Xu Rushan could not imagine that Ning Fan who had yet to attain Divine Transformation Realm had congealed his own Divine Intent.

Besides, he only retreated for eight steps when he faced the mighty Divine Intent of Venerated Giant. During the first time Xu Rushan touched the jade slip, he was frightened by the fierce Divine Intent of Venerated Giant and retreated seven steps. That time, he had actually applied his spirit sense to defend himself before touching the jade slip.

This person really is unfathomable… If he spread his spirit sense before he touched the jade slip, I suppose he would not have to retreat for more than three steps.

In the past, Xu Rushan would have wanted to dissect Ning Fan and find out the secrets of the latter’s power.

Currently, however, he earnestly hoped that it was better the stronger Ning Fan was. If the latter was strong, the task would most likely be completed without fail.

He stood aside silently while waiting for Ning Fan to read the jade slip.

As for Ning Fan, he knitted his brows as his mind got into the jade slip.

The expert who imprinted the jade slip was the person with the domineering Divine Intent. He was Giant Qing, the Venerated Giant of the Giant Devil Sect.

The first sentence Ning Fan heard from the jade slip was a harsh remark.

“Little Shan, this old man gives you only half a year! Within this period, if you are unable to gather 200 Demon Pills to save my daughter, Little Xueyan, I will personally crush your head to pieces!”

Feng Xueyan. She was the daughter of Venerated Giant. She had an acute disease and Demon Pills were urgently needed to save her life.

Before her condition worsened this time, she would need at least 200 of those pills.

Venerated Giant had given an order to Xu Rushan. If Xu Rushan failed to execute the order, he would have to prepare to be decapitated…

Note:

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Translator Team:

G-Team [Tommy (TL), Roel (Editor)]