Grasping Evil - Chapter 279

Chapter 279: Chapter 279 Retribution from Luo Yun (3.0)

Silver robes and white hair. Holding the Purple Lightning Hammer in his hand, Wang Xiao did not utter any more words. A pair of massive silver-colored wings grew on his back. When he made a step forward, his body continuously enlarged. After taking a few steps, he had completely transformed into a one thousand and five hundred zhang* tall giant.

In front of that gigantic being, Ning Fan was as tiny as an ant. In spite of that, his facial expression showed no signs of fear.

“Turning into a giant in his physical body…” Ning Fan muttered.

It was a means used by the ancient fiendgods during combat. Unfortunately, Ning Fan’s body refining technique was largely different from that of the ancient divine cultivators.

The silver-winged giant let out a shrill owl’s cry. After that, darkness fell abnormally, covering the entire purple platform which was basked in daylight just a moment ago. It was so dark that one could not possibly see their hands in front of them.

Standing in the darkness, Ning Fan’s eyes flashed with seriousness. It was the innate divine ability of the Ice Owl Clan – Remnant Night!

Owls were creatures that lived in the dark.

The members of the Ice Owl Race would fuse their bloodlines with their demon power and summon nightfall which could weaken their enemies’ vision and senses.

Ning Fan tried to spread his spirit sense. However, his field of vision could only cover the vicinity of one hundred zhang* around him in the absence of light. All the demon cultivators outside were completely clueless of what was happening on the purple platform.

Although Ning Fan was unable to see clearly, he was able to sense that a fearsome aura was plummeting down right above the top of his head!

The purple star in his left eye sparkled and his gaze pierced through the darkness, enabling him to have a clear view of his surroundings.

At the moment night fell, the silver-winged giant wielded his Purple Lightning Hammer right at Ning Fan’s head.

His strength created nine folds of thunder clouds in the sky and each of them were charged to the maximum with his extreme power, causing the lightning power within them to go out of control. It spread throughout the sky in a ripple, tearing off the Void Realm.

Nine groups of clouds and nine layers of extreme power. It showed Wang Xiao’s perfect proficiency in manipulating his strength after his body turned into a giant.

Moreover, its speed was unimaginable! The thrust of the hammer was comparable to the moving speed of a Late Divine Transformation Realm expert. Furthermore, using that hammer to perform sneak attack in the dark was more than enough to put a Peak Divine Transformation Realm expert in a grievous state if they are caught off guard.

Looking at the purple golden hammer which was more massive than a mountain and the nine groups of wave-like thunder clouds, Ning Fan activated all three of his divine star, demon star, and devil star together. At the same time, although his body did not grow any larger, the devil marks on his back began to heat up while the demon bloodline within his body boiled violently. Blood-red lightning flashed around him, emitting the sound of electricity.

As a strong wind blew, his black hair fluttered along with it. The large dark purple crystal wings on his back flapped. At this moment, Ning Fan’s speed reached its maximum.

Just like a flash of purple lightning, he dashed towards the sky, rushing directly at the nine lightning clouds.

Each of the clouds was enough to blast an Early Divine Transformation Realm expert to death. Combining nine into one, its power was enhanced to a level where it could severely injure a Mid Divine Transformation Realm expert.

But the lightning star on Ning Fan’s glabella flashed and his gaze swept across the clouds. The lightning clouds which were congealed merely through a magical technique began to crack, split and disperse successively!

While flying across the nine groups of lightning clouds, Ning Fan drew his Separation Slayer Sword and made a slash at the humongous hammer.

He mustered all this strength and focused it on the sword. That scene was similar to a tiny mosquito colliding against a mortal human’s palm, seemingly overestimating itself.

But the strength of the attack he made was indeed out of the ordinary. When the miniature sword and the enormous hammer met, a huge sound echoed in the sky.

*Dong*

The moving direction of the hammer which was falling down from the sky was altered by Ning Fan’s sword. Despite that, the momentum behind the hammer landed on his chest through his sword, causing his qi and blood to be in disharmony.

“This Wang Xiao’s body refining realm is quickly approaching the Third Level of the Jade Life Realm. My strength is much weaker than his…”

The first falling hammer was deflected away. A second hammer quickly followed. He pressed against his glabella to draw out his Spirit Crushing Whip and struck the Purple Lightning Hammer.

At the moment when his whip landed on the hammer, the sky within the vicinity of a ten thousand li* was densely covered with blood-red lightning clouds, rumbling with thunder.

The lightning power blasted at the Purple Lightning Hammer but more than half of it was absorbed by the hammer. Only the remaining lightning power struck directly at Wang Xiao’s dantian through the connection between his mind and the hammer.

Knowing that that technique was unable to harm Wang Xiao, Ning Fan kept his Spirit Crushing Whip and fluttered his wings. With a speed comparable to a Peak Divine Transformation Realm expert’s, he retreated hundreds of li* away and wielded his Separation Slayer Sword. The darkness that enveloped the sky was split into two and vanished!

Now, Ning Fan had a clearer understanding towards Wang Xiao’s capabilities. At least, he realized that defeating the latter using only his Separation Slayer Sword and Spirit Crushing Whip was absolutely impossible.

His state of mind is impulsive and arrogant. However, his capabilities aren’t weak.

The onlookers were not able to clearly see the progress of the battle in the dark. However, the blood-red lightning which covered ten thousand li*, the deafening sound that reverberated in the sky when the nine thunder clouds were destroyed and the hostile shrill of an ice owl allowed the demon cultivators to imagine how ferocious their attacks were and how many techniques they had displayed in just the beginning of the battle.

But even under such high-level battle, Ning Fan was still in one piece. In stark contrast, Wang Xiao who was in his giant form had a trace of silver blood flowing down from one of the corners of his mouth.

Wang Xiao was injured?!

The eyes of the silver-winged giant were filled with surprise and rage, feeling confused.

Under the effect the Remnant Night technique of my Ice Owl Race, one’s senses would surely be impaired. Besides, I’ve even attacked him with the Purple Lightning Hammer. In the absolute darkness, even Late Divine Transformation Realm experts would not be able to see through those sneak attacks and would’ve been eventually injured by my double hammer attack.

But this man saw through it even in darkness. If it wasn’t because of that, it would definitely be impossible for him to directly aim at my attacks and offset them one by one.

Ning Fan’s ability of seeing through the darkness had already baffled Wang Xiao. His further action of crushing the nine thunder clouds made Wang Xiao to be filled with disbelief. If whatever he had done just now was explainable, then the things that are going to happen next would certainly stun Wang Xiao.

Just now, Ning Fan did not evade the first hammer attack and also blocked that hammer with his sword instead. It was a collision between a three chi* long sword and a gigantic hammer which was as huge as a mountain. But the outcome of the collision between the two weapons with different grades was in favor of Wang Xiao who gained a slight upper hand in strength.

Wang Xiao knew that his body refining realm was greater than Ning Fan’s. Even so, after he transformed into his avatar, Ning Fan who had a lower body refining realm than him was nearly able to take his attack head-on with just a significantly smaller sword without the need of an avatar…

I transformed my body into a giant to gain greater strength but he condenses his strength and remain his size.

Despite the two completely different levels of body refinement, the outcome of the collision was nearly a draw.

What caused Wang Xiao to be injured was the second hammer!

He had heard about Ning Fan’s true identity from Lu Jiefen and discovered that the key of the latter’s unique ability of striking one’s Nascent Soul by striking one’s treasure was borrowing the power of lightning. Therefore, he intentionally used his lightning-based treasure – Purple Lightning Hammer to withstand the lightning power from Ning Fan in order to avoid his demon soul from getting hurt.

His Purple Lightning Hammer was a High Grade Spiritual Treasure whereas Ning Fan’s Spirit Crushing Whip was an Intermediate Grade Spiritual Treasure. In spite of that, just based on lightning power, Ning Fan’s whip was still a level higher than Wang Xiao’s. As such, even though most of the whip’s lightning power was cancelled out by the hammer, it was still able to hurt Wang Xiao’s demon soul. After that strike, even the High Profound Earth Grade demon soul’s armor that Wang Xiao put on on his demon soul was blasted to pieces by the lightning. If it was not because there was still a seal of cold ice on his soul, he would not only be lightly injured but put in a critical state instead…

The injuries Wang Xiao suffered might be minor, but it made his facial expression extremely horrible.

I wasn’t careless nor merciful to him at all just now, but I was injured by that ant in just the beginning of our fight…It’s quite the embarrassment.

“It’s no wonder that this kid was able to kill Zou Teng and the others. His capabilities are indeed strong. Besides, when the second hammer fell, he evaded it with incredible speed. Apparently, his top speed is not any weaker than mine… But it’s still not enough to rival me with just that!”

Wang Xiao’s face turned gloomy. He held his hammers high and made a different hand seal. The form of the lightning hammers began to change. One of the hammers transformed into a purple lightning mountain which plunged at Ning Fan right at the top of his head.

In order to win against him, I must not just rely on my brute force but some kinds of feints too.

The Heavenly Spiritual Energy gathered to the lightning mountain when Wang Xiao changed his hand seal, flowing into it. When the mountain was still at ten thousand zhang* above the sky, it shifted instantaneously, arriving at one hundred zhang* above Ning Fan’s head.

The other hammer transformed into a purple lightning prison, sealing up every possible escape paths around Ning Fan. Once he was suppressed by the mountain, the seal of the lightning prison would seal him tighter and eventually imprison him within with the form an Immemorial Divine Weapon, making him unable to break free.

That was the transformational ability of the Purple Lightning Hammer. It was able to turn into a mountain or a lightning prison. It was specially used to suppress and besiege the enemies.

Purple Mountain Lightning Prison!

As the hammer got closer, its presence caused the air to stagnant, making one suffocate. The wave of air that blew against one’s face was sharp like needles.

Ning Fan’s face darkened. His surroundings were sealed off while the space above his head was suppressed. There was no way to run. Usually, he could display the incarnation technique by turning his physical body into black mist to evade that attack. However, now he felt that the Immemorial Divine Weapon had the ability of attacking one’s illusory body. Thus, even if he turns into a black shadow, he would still be suppressed by the heavy mountain!

Since I can’t run, I must crush this Purple Lightning Hammer right before it’s too late!

Wang Xiao was wearing a confident look on his face as if he was absolutely certain that he was going to defeat Ning Fan with his mighty weapon.

Other than the Separation Slayer Sword and the Spirit Crushing Whip, I still have one more powerful treasure.

The Blood Sword!

With a slap on his storage pouch, the dragon soul of the blood dragon flew out. An old broken blood-red sword emerged on his hand.

At the appearance of that sword, Wang Xiao was astonished. But that astonishment was replaced with disdain a moment later.

“Blood Dragon Demon Sword?! This sword belonged to Li Ban. It’s the treasure of the Blood Dragon Race. However, its power has already been sealed. Without tearing off its seals, it won’t be able to match my hammer… Moreover, there’s no way you can break off the seals on that sword!”

Before Wang Xiao could finish speaking, he squinted his eyes with sternness.

What he saw was Ning Fan placing two of his fingers directly on the body of the sword and harshly rubbed against it!

As his fingers moved along the body of the sword, golden-purple sand flowed from his fingers making the blood-red sword tremble as if its soul was palpitating with nervousness. The first seal on the sword rapidly disappeared under the effect of the blowing sand.

Just as the first seal of the blood sword was unsealed, a dragon roar which seemed to have been suppressed for a long time reverberated across the purple platform, transforming into a remarkable blood-red Baleful Qi!

Ning Fan kept his Separation Slayer Sword and held the blood sword in his hand instead. He felt his state of mind being shaken by the ferocious might of the sword. However, he gritted his teeth and also unleashed a blood-red aura force which was not weaker than a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm expert, forcibly suppressing the fierce prestige of the sword.

The blood sword was resisting his commands.

A sword was just a lifeless object. This sword, however, was forged using the bone of an immortal blood dragon. Therefore, it had a lofty and unyielding bearing.

Anger! It was angry that it lost its body. It was angry that it had to be commanded by someone else. It was angry that it could merely be a sword!

*Roar*

In an extremely strange manner, the blood sword emitted the angry roar of a sinful dragon!

It was resisting, trying to break free from Ning Fan’s hand and take control of him instead.

However, when Ning Fan’s cold voice was heard, the golden-purple blowing sand on the tips of one of his fingers flowed down the blood sword making it feel insignificant, inferior and anxious for the first time…

“It’s that technique again! The golden-purple blowing sand! What exactly is that demonic technique?!”

Qu Shun’s countenance was filled with shock as he suddenly rose up from his seat.

As for Wang Xiao, he gulped with great struggle as cold sweat began to drip down from his forehead.

It was because he could clearly see that Ning Fan had actually torn off the first seal of the Blood Dragon Demon Sword!

The might of a Half-Step Void Treasure1 began to spread out from the blood sword!

“He really broke the seal of the sword! This is bad!”

At this moment, Ning Fan wielded the sword! His gaze swept across the lightning prison and the lightning mountain and spoke with a menacing tone, as if he was giving an order to the blood sword.

“I don’t care what status you had in the Blood Dragon Race when you were alive and how honorable you were. After you died, you have been used to forge a sword and now, you are in my hands. I will wield you and I now command you to submit! If you don’t and if you dare to oppose me, I will erase your existence forever with my Wind Mist Finger!”

When Ning Fan’s voice fell, the blood sword quieted down.

It was because of his Wind Mist Finger that he was able to tear off the first seal by chance. However, he had not completely subdued the blood sword. Originally, the sword was able to display the might of a Void Treasure but now, it was just barely at the level of a Half-Step Void Treasure.

In spite of that, it was more than enough for Ning Fan. If it were to be a true Void Treasure, Ning Fan would not be able to wield it at all with his current cultivation.

However, even though it was just a Half-Step Void Treasure, Ning Fan could barely suppress it for the moment by relying on his Half-Step Void Realm aura force.

Ning Fan’s face became slightly pale as if the blood qi of his body was quickly being devoured by the blood sword. Nevertheless, there was a fearsome sword intent surging around his body.

At the moment when the sword intent reached its peak level, the blood sword was pointed at the lightning mountain above his head unleashing all the sword qi he had accumulated. Moreover, at the tip of the sword, an unreconciled roar of a dragon echoed loudly!

*Roar*

Ten traces. One hundred traces. One thousand traces… That single attack created nearly one million sword shadows of the blood sword which spread out in a striking manner, blotting out the sky and covering up the earth!

An ear-piercing sword cry resounded through the heavens and the might of the ferocious beast residing within the sword spread throughout the province. Under the might of the sword, be it the lightning prison or the mountain, none of them was able to get closer to Ning Fan as they were both frozen in mid-air.

As the blood sword slashed, a million traces of sword qi fused into one cleave through the air. Under that slash, the lightning mountain was split into half whereas the lightning prison was destroyed, transforming into two purple lightning hammers which had lost most of their spirituality. Both of them heavily crashed on the ground beside Ning Fan’s feet creating a massive pit which was nearly one hundred zhang* deep.

It truly deserved to be dubbed as Immemorial Divine Weapons. Even after they were crushed by the blood sword, they remained unbreakable. If it were an ordinary High Grade Divine Transformation Realm treasure instead, it would have been crushed into pieces under the might of the sword.

*Puke*

Wang Xiao felt an excruciating pain in his chest as his Immemorial Divine Weapon was defeated causing him to withdraw himself from his avatar. Half-kneeling on the ground, he coughed out a few mouthfuls of blood and his countenance was plastered with shock.

He did not expect that Li Ban’s blood sword would be so powerful after the seal of the sword was removed… What he found the most unbelievable was that Ning Fan, a mere Early Divine Transformation Realm ant, was able to remove the seal…

It was not any better for Ning Fan. That attack of the sword had used up half of his blood essence. If he wields that sword for one more time, perhaps his blood essence would be completely sucked dry by the blood sword, causing him to die due to lack of blood…

“Good sword! But with my current cultivation level, I’m still far away from being able to control it at my whim. Otherwise, that attack would not have just destroyed the lightning hammers but would have also flattened out the vicinity of one hundred thousand li* around and wiped out all living creatures within! Killing Wang Xiao would have been a cinch! Besides, if I am able to tear off the second seal, I can probably have enough power to harm a Void Fragmentation Realm expert!

Looking at Wang Xiao who had suffered a serious injury and Ning Fan who had lost much of his blood essence, Qu Shun and Lu Daochen’s facial expressions were filled with a hint of worry as well as astonishment.

The reason why they were amazed was obviously because Ning Fan who had just attained the Divine Transformation Realm was not any weaker than Wang Xiao in battle.

The reason why they felt worried was because if Wang Xiao and Ning Fan were both greatly wounded in the fight, the nine pieces of the map would probably fall into the hands of Imperial Concubine Zi. Without the both of them, no one would be able to resist the members of the Spirit King Palace in the fight…

It was for this reason why Imperial Concubine Zi remained silent about their fight from the beginning up until now. Why should she stop them from fighting against each other? The more they got injured, the greater the chance for the Spirit King Palace to obtain the first place in the fight!

“This Lu Bei indeed has the power to strive for first place. If I am not wrong, he only needs to activate the blood sword once more and it would be more than enough to kill Wang Xiao in his current condition. However, he would definitely be grievously wounded by the backlash of the sword…*Sigh* It’s really unexpected that this Lu Bei is not an insignificant being while this Wang Xiao cannot put up a fight against him…”

“It’s not because Wang Xiao is too weak but because Lu Bei is… too strong.” Imperial Concubine Wu Yan silently corrected her.

Two shadows leapt onto the purple platform and stood in the middle between Ning Fan and Wang Xiao, stopping the two of them from continuing the fight. Their purpose was to prevent the situation where the two of them suffer great losses from occurring.

“It’s enough! General Wang, retreat for now! This battle will be a draw!” Qu Shun sternly ordered.

“Lu Bei. It’s enough. This battle will stop here. There’s no benefit in continuing the battle!” Lu Daochen advised.

Ning Fan did not respond. He knew that he should be prioritizing the bigger issue in front of him at the moment. However, he was not willing to let go of this opportunity to eliminate Wang Xiao!

As for Wang Xiao, he was feeling discontented for having gotten a beating from Ning Fan.

He was compelled to admit that even though Ning Fan’s cultivation level might be weaker than his, his combat power was slightly stronger than his. If the fight continues on and Ning Fan chose to activate the blood sword at the expense of his life, he would definitely be killed!

Even so, Wang Xiao felt dissatisfied to have lost to Ning Fan!

“I am not satisfied! If you don’t have the blood sword, you will definitely be unable to withstand my single move! Lu Bei, let’s bring this battle to an end with our finishing moves! Are you daring enough to accept my challenge!”

“A single move?”

Qu Shun’s eyes darkened while Lu Daochen’s brows were tightly knitted. Ning Fan looked at Wang Xiao with a pair of merciless eyes.

“A single move? Are you sure?!”

“Absolutely. We have both suffered heavy injuries. It would be difficult to identify the winner if the battle continues…” Wang Xiao reluctantly clenched his teeth. He was not willing to say those words even though it was a fact!

“A single move! If you win, your crime of killing Li Ban and my other generals would be done with. If you lose, you’ll die. Your map pieces will belong to me!”

“This round, no magical treasures are allowed other than demonic techniques! Do you dare to accept this challenge?!”

“Demonic technique! Why would I be afraid?!”

A purple qi began to encircle Ning Fan’s body. All of a sudden, half of the sky was permeated with purple light rays.

It seems to be impossible to kill Wang Xiao today. But the next move…

I must put his in a grievous state!

He is strong but he won’t be able to withstand that finger!

Standing with his hands clasped behind his back, he stomped on the ground and kept the two purple lightning hammers into his storage for his own use.

After witnessing that scene, Wang Xiao’s eyes turned cold but he did not say much.

“After I’ve killed you, I will then take back my hammers… A single move. That’s all I’ve got now…”

There was a cold ice seal on his demon seal. But at this moment, Wang Xiao created a hole on it!

A vast and boundless aura force surged within his body. In just a brief moment, his demon power crazily increased, reaching the level of a Peak Divine Transformation Realm being!

With a surprised look, Prince Qu Shun muttered, “This is…”

“This is the second innate ability of my Ice Owl Race – Cold Ice Mark! This mark was bestowed upon me by an immortal demon senior. The moment when I remove that seal, I will be able to increase my demon power by a small cultivation level… Lu Bei, I am giving you one last chance. Hand over the map pieces, cut one of your arms and kowtow to me to apologize for your offence. I will then spare your dog life!”

“A noisy old demon!”

Ning Fan lifted his finger and the golden purple blowing sand flowed out from the tip of his finger, spreading in all directions.

As a gust of wind blew across the province, a cloud of purple mist filled the air!

“It’s that technique again!” Qu Shun’s eyes widened. At such a close distance, he actually felt a sense of danger from that technique.

Even I have felt danger from it let alone Wang Xiao who has just increased his demon power using a secret technique.

“Wang Xiao, this prince advises you to retreat now! You aren’t Lu Bei’s match!”

“Get lost! How dare a mere prince of the mortal world dare to address me with my full name?!”

Wang Xiao was consumed by madness. In the next moment, however, his eyes gradually became cold and calm, as if all his emotions were sealed up by ice.

On his left palm, a cold qi surrounded with purple snow emerged while on his right palm there was a black ice whirlpool which was carrying ice particles.

As these two items appeared, Lu Daochen lost his composure and immediately communicated with Ning Fan through telepathy.

“You must be cautious! Wang Xiao has used two types of Heavenly Cold Qi this time! They are the ‘Extreme East Wind’ which is ranked 6th and the ‘Imperial Dark Snow’ which is 4th among the twelve Heavenly Cold Qi!”

Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel

Note:

The level of treasures: Low Grade Treasures à Intermediate Grade Treasures à High Grade Treasures à Supreme Grade Treasures à Spiritual Treasures à Mortal Void Treasures à Immortal Void Treasures à Immortal Treasures