Grasping Evil - Chapter 416
Chapter 416: Chapter 416: Ying Longzi
Ning Fan had to admit that his luck was indeed very good. Being able to exchange those useless lightning jades for excellent items upon meeting Lei Shiyi was undoubtedly a great fortune.
He then went into the Profound Yin World and refined the primordial lightning and Heavenly Cold Qi with the help of the accelerated cultivation speed within the realm.
Just half a day later, Ning Fan came out from the Profound Yin World with his qi slightly stronger.
After assimilating the Long Sentiment Tears, Ning Fan’s magic power increased by one thousand units. Now, there were already nine types of Heavenly Cold Qi within him!
To Ning Fan who had more than six hundred thousand units of magic power, one thousand units of magic power was merely a drop in the bucket.
However, Ning Fan was quite satisfied with the added effect that the Long Sentiment Tears had given him.
A drop of tear creates affection and another drop severes it. This cold qi which ranked second of the twelve Heavenly Cold Qi had the unique effect of aiding a cultivator in calming and strengthening their state of mind.
As soon as Ning Fan devoured it, he felt his entire body become cool. During his cultivation, there was not the slightest trace of a Heart’s Devil disturbing him and his Dao Heart was also as strong as thick ice!
It’s no surprise why this item could be sold for five hundred million immortal jade. Its effect was indeed worth the price.
Ning Fan had also refined every last one of the one thousand and two hundred traces of primordial lightning.
After refining the first five hundred traces of primordial lightning into the Primordial Lightning Armor, it made the silver light of his lightning armor become more dazzling. Without a doubt, it had made it break through to the fourth level of the silver grade.
The remaining seven hundred traces of primordial lightning caused the lightning armor to continue advancing towards the peak of the fourth level. Then, traces of golden lightning rays began to appear on the lightning armor.
When all of the one thousand and two hundred traces of primordial lightning had been refined, his Primordial Lightning Armor was almost completely glowing faint gold. Only one to two traces of silver lightning rays remained.
If all the silver rays on the armor vanish and it completely glows with golden lightning rays, this lightning armor could then break through to the gold grade. It would then be able to withstand a strike from an expert of the Void Glimpse Stage!
“Suit up!”
When Ning Fan willed it, the lightning armor covered his physical body.
When the Primordial Lightning Armor is not in use, it would naturally protect the owner’s primordial spirit.
When it is summoned by its owner, it could protect the owner’s whole body.
Faint gold lightning armor enveloped his entire body. When Ning Fan donned this set of golden armor, he resembled Konjin[1].
His body flashed with golden lightning. As the golden light from his body shone, it attracted the attention of countless undead spirits. They spied on his actions and attempted to initiate attacks on Ning Fan.
These golden lightning rays were similar to a delicious dish which lured undead spirits to come at him.
A trace of chilly and frightening killing qi rose in Ning Fan’s eyes. He took a step forward and turned into a ray of golden lightning, beginning a massacre!
He dashed into the group of undead spirits directly. The group consisted of nearly a thousand undead spirits which were at least of the Nascent Soul Realm. The strongest among them were at the Peak Divine Transformation Realm. All of them displayed their lightning magic techniques at the same time.
Countless attacks went towards Ning Fan but none of them could penetrate the defense of his lightning armor.
He spread his sword sense and swept across the surroundings. Nascent Soul Realm undead spirits were shredded to pieces one after another.
He then formed a set of hand seals and summoned multiple black dragon tombstones which fell from the sky, crushing countless undead spirits.
His eyes were indifferent, as if he was back to the times in the past where he was plunged into bloody killings and massacres.
He opened his mouth and devoured seventeen traces of primordial lightning and kept the seventeen pieces of lightning jades away with a flick of his sleeve. After that, he released his vigorous aura force and dashed straight towards the location of the lightning lord of the fifth floor.
Along his path, more and more undead spirits came after him, attracted by the golden lightning ray.
They attempted to kill Ning Fan and seize his golden lightning. However, the price they had to pay for acting on their greed was none other than death!
*Shua* *Shua* *Shua*
Traces of black-colored sword light spread on the fifth floor.
Shadows of the blood lightning whip snatched the lives of countless Divine Transformation Realm undead spirits.
The number of creatures on the fifth floor was even more than that of the four previous floors combined.
The blood of these creatures trickled down his robes. After killing one hundred thousand Nascent Soul Realm and 105 Divine Transformation Realm undead spirits, he appeared outside a massive palace.
Inside the palace stood an elderly man in dragon robes. That man wore a somber expression. He was none other than the lightning lord of the fifth floor of this lightning tower!
Prior to this, he had obtained some information which claimed that there was an undead spirit from the lower floors who had intruded the fifth floor and the number of those he had slain were as countless as clouds.
He had also heard that this wild and mad person who killed people like scything flax possessed a secret technique that blessed him with golden lightning armor. The strength of that lightning armor was enough to defend against all kinds of Divine Transformation Realm attacks!
All the life plates of the subordinates he had dispatched to pursue Ning Fan broke one after another. That undoubtedly meant that all of them have been killed.
The eyes of the elderly man in dragon robes were filled with absolute rage. When he sensed Ning Fan’s arrival outside the palace, he became so angry that he laughed. He smacked the table beside him and rose to his feet.
“This young man is really bold! I didn’t look for you but you sent yourself here at my place! Hand over the secret technique of your lightning armor and I’ll leave your corpse intact after killing you!”
“Hand over the dark golden bamboo leaf. Then, I might consider leaving yours intact.”
“You’re courting death!”
*Rumble*
The elderly man in dragon robes was filled with great rage. He made a stomp and his terrifying magic power which was at the level of the Void Glimpse Stage directly shattered the massive palace, turning it into ruins and rubbles.
His forceful aura force transformed into a golden lightning dragon which rushed towards Ning Fan.
Facing the incoming golden lightning dragon, Ning Fan actually did not plan to evade or hide. Instead, he let the countless arcs of electricity from the lightning dragon drown him.
“Humph! This is the consequence of going against me!”
The elderly man in dragon robes sneered coldly. At first glance, he saw through Ning Fan’s cultivation base that was just at the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm.
From his perspective, Ning Fan, who was merely at the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm would without a doubt be killed after taking his Dragon Transforming Golden Lightning Technique head-on.
The only thing he felt unfortunate was that he had yet to find out about Ning Fan’s secret technique before eliminating him.
However, after feeling pleased with himself for a short while, his satisfied expression was replaced with a look of shock.
The golden lightning rays which shone across the entire sky after hitting Ning Fan were fading at a frightening speed.
“What exactly happened? Why are my golden lightning disappearing by themselves?!” The elderly man in dragon robes was flabbergasted.
That technique he used just now had always been effective even when he faced experts of the same level. Why would such a strange situation happen today?
He, of course, was not aware that Ning Fan had condensed the Tai Su Lightning Star and possessed the Tai Su Lightning Diagram. With them, Ning Fan could absorb all the lightning attacks at the same level as him without suffering any injuries.
He stood in the middle of the sea of golden lightning but he did not have the slightest hint of fear. After his lightning armor had taken in the 105 traces of primordial lightning, the silver lightning rays on his armor completely disappeared. It now turned into a pure faint golden armor.
His lightning armor was already at the peak of the silver grade. It was just a hair’s breadth away from breaking through to the gold grade.
It just needed one final step to complete that advancement and the key of this breakthrough was to kill the elderly man in dragon robes and devour his primordial lightning!
Even though it had yet to attain the gold grade, the strength of his current lightning armor could already withstand nearly all of the damage of the elderly man’s lightning attacks.
Despite being at the center of the golden lightning sea, Ning Fan remained unscathed even without summoning his natal stars!
When a flash of lightning ray flashed beneath his feet, a blood-red lightning diagram unfolded like a painting scroll, extending into an area of ten thousand li* (500m per li).
Just as this lightning diagram appeared, the golden lightning rays in the sky shook and stopped. Then, they were all absorbed into the diagram with an oppressive force.
Just like that, the full-powered attack of that elderly man in dragon robes was literally crushed!
“Tai Su Lightning Diagram!”
An overwhelming astonishment rose within the elderly man’s heart. He finally understood why his lightning technique could not leave even a single scratch on Ning Fan at all but was absorbed by the latter instead!
With the Tai Su Lightning Diagram, all lightning attacks of the same level as the caster can be absorbed!
Ning Fan condensed the golden lightning armor. His comprehension of the Dao of Lightning had already reached the gold lightning grade from the silver lightning grade.
Thus, the elderly man in dragon robes who also wielded golden lightning was definitely unable to hurt Ning Fan at all!
The thunder sovereign had once said: The one who holds the Tai Su Lightning Diagram will be the lord of all lightning!
“Throughout myf cultivation journey, the magic power I have been cultivating is only lightning. Even though I have attained the Void Refinement Realm, all of my lightning power will still be restrained by this young man. I can’t even hurt him using my magic techniques and magic treasures. As such, the only way to defeat him is through physical combat!”
The elderly man smirked. His physical body had already attained the Fourth Level of Jade Life Realm. With the strength of his physical body alone, he was already able to win against someone at the Peak Divine Transformation Realm. Besides, with all of his high-grade body strengthening techniques, it should not be difficult to overpower Ning Fan.
When he made a step forward, his physical body grew one thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) tall.
After he had taken ten steps, his physical body was already five thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) tall.
He had turned into a giant in dragon robes. Each step he took crushed mountains and rivers.
Whenever he inhaled, he would suck in clouds and air. Each breath he took was so powerful that it seemed as if he could also take in the mountains and rivers. He lifted one of his hands and swung it down on Ning Fan vertically, carrying the massive force which could overturn the sea!
“Trying to suppress me using your physical body? Unfortunately, you are too weak!”
Ning Fan sneered. Stepping on the lightning diagram, his physical body enlarged. He also took ten steps and turned into a five thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) tall giant clad in golden armor.
“You are also a body cultivator at the Fourth Level of the Jade Life Realm?!”
The elderly man was slightly surprised. However, he did not think he would lose to Ning Fan at all considering the grade of the body techniques he had was uncommon.
He hurled a fist at Ning Fan while the latter also threw a punch in return.
Even though both of them were at the Fourth Level of Jade Life Body Refinement Realm, as soon as they exchanged blows, the bones of the elderly man’s fist were pulverized upon contact. A massive force broke the bones of his entire arm and then spread to his chest. That blow caused his gigantic body to retreat one hundred li* (500m per li) away before he could regain his balance again. In just an instant, he was already severely injured!
Ning Fan, on the other hand, did not even move half a step backwards after throwing a punch. He was as composed as before. The force of the elderly man’s punch did not break the defense of his lightning armor!
A single punch!
With just a single punch, the elderly man in dragon robes had lost to Ning Fan. His physical body was far too weak compared to Ning Fan’s!
“The strength of a single punch of yours is definitely at the Peak Level of the Jade Life Realm! No. It’s even stronger than the Peak Level of the Jade Life Realm. It is nearly comparable to a single strike from a cultivator with the Golden Body Realm!”
“Your insight is not bad. The strength of my punch is already close to the Golden Body Realm!”
Ning Fan’s eyes were like the sun and the moon. He dashed past one hundred li* (500m per li) with a step and caught up with the elderly man. Without hesitation, he hurled one hundred punches at the latter in one breath.
A single punch made the heavens and earth darken.
Ten punches caused the mountains and land to shake.
When Ning Fan threw one hundred punches, the skies collapsed and the earth crumbled.
After taking one hundred punches from Ning Fan consecutively, the elderly man’s physical body was completely pulverized. Blood flowed like rivers, flooding the wastelands. His breathing, thin and feeble. He was already on the brink of death.
His face revealed a look of terror and shock. To think a dignified cultivator of the Void Glimpse Stage would actually be afraid of a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm cultivator. If others hear of it, they would definitely find it hilarious!
However, reality was always this cruel.
His magic power had been restrained by Ning Fan’s lightning diagram and the strength of his physical body was inferior to him as well. He did not have a chance of winning against Ning Fan at all.
“You must not kill me. I am Xu Longzi, the younger brother of Ying Longzi who is the lightning lord of the twenty-fourth floor. If you kill me, you will certainly be pursued and hunted down by all the members of the next twenty floors in this tower!”
“The lightning lord of the twenty-fourth floor, huh…”
Ning Fan was as indifferent and cold as usual. He was not intimidated by Ying Longzi’s reputation at all.
When Xu Longzi noticed that his threat was ineffective, his eyes were filled with hopelessness.
He could already tell that Ning Fan was a person who would never be threatened by anything. Even if his elder brother is the number-one expert among the cultivators of the Void Inquiry Stage in this lightning tower, it would still not make Ning Fan afraid of him.
Eventually, his hopelessness turned into madness.
Xu Longzi was also an outstanding being. If begging was useless, the only thing he could do was to fight Ning Fan to death!
His mouth muttered an incantation and two dragon horns gradually grew on his head. When he shook his body, he underwent a transformation. Lightning rays turned into pieces of golden scales which covered his body.
In seconds, he had actually transformed into a massive golden lightning dragon which was five thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) long!
His dragon eyes flashed with a hint of ferocity.
The reason why he showed his true form was to put up a desperate fight against Ning Fan!
“Crushing Dragon Roar! *Roar*”
As soon as the gigantic dragon opened his jaws and let out a deafening roar, traces of golden light turned into golden circles that spread towards Ning Fan’s direction.
Ning Fan’s eyes remained indifferent. No matter how strong this sound wave technique was, it still had the essence of golden lightning power after all.
Hence, there was nothing to be afraid of!
Ning Fan made a forceful stomp in his golden-armored gigantic body, breaking the lightning diagram beneath his feet into traces of blood-red lightning.
At the next moment, a massive lightning diagram condensed in his palm.
That was a picture scroll which was ten thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) long and the blood-red lightning served as the pen and ink which drew abstruse and mysterious lightning runes on the scroll.
The golden-armored giant held the lightning diagram in his hand at the direction of the golden dragon.
As soon as the lightning diagram spread out, it sucked the golden dragon and kept it into the scroll.
Then, the scroll rolled up and was sealed, keeping the lightning diagram. The golden-armored giant held it in his hand.
The golden dragon which was trapped in the scroll let out frightening and painful roars. However, a brief moment later, its voice gradually grew quiet.
Ning Fan’s face remained tranquil. He then spread out the lightning diagram again and shook it. Then, traces of golden ashes fell out.
Judging from the situation, Ning Fan had directly kept Xu Longzi who was already grievously injured into the lightning diagram and turned him into a pile of ashes.
What a terrifying Tai Su Lightning Diagram!
“The Tai Su Lightning Diagram can be used to defend against or attack my opponents. If it’s used for defense, it will turn into the diagram formation and appear beneath my feet. No lightning attacks can then destroy me. If it’s used to attack my opponents, it will turn into a painting scroll and trap all the lightning cultivators beneath this heaven within it. With a single thought, they will be reduced to ashes. This is the punishment of Lightning Emperor Tai Su who commands and wields lightning in ancient times!”
“Even though this technique is strong, it is only effective on lightning cultivators. Besides, to kill a lightning cultivator, their cultivation base must not be too high from mine. With my current cultivation base, I can originally kill lightning cultivators below the Void Refinement Realm with the help of this diagram. I was not capable of killing Xu Longzi on my own. However, I managed to grievously injure him. Thus, it was not a surprise that he would be absorbed into this diagram and turned into ashes in his weakened state.”
“With this diagram around, I only need to beat a lightning cultivator of the Void Glimpse Stage half to death and put them into this diagram. Then, it can kill whichever lightning cultivator that gets trapped within!”
Ning Fan withdrew his golden-armor giant form and kept his lightning diagram. He waved at the sea of blood and brought a trace of golden primordial lightning into his hand. Without further delay, he refined it into his lightning armor.
His faint golden lightning armor immediately turned pure gold. At this moment, it had completely broken through to the first level of the gold grade!
At the same time, the other items he obtained from this battle were a piece of golden lightning jade and a dark golden bamboo leaf.
Now, he was done with the fifth floor after eliminating the lightning lord of this floor and getting what he needed!
“This Xu Longzi was not weak. However, he was still a lightning cultivator in the form of an undead spirit at the end of the day. Thus, his lightning power was completely restrained by me. Since the moment I condensed the Tai Su Lightning Star, I am already the lord of all lightning and have the ability to restrain all lightning cultivators. There is nothing to be afraid of against all lightning cultivators of the Void Glimpse Stage in the floors below the tenth. What I need to be wary of is Xu Longzi’s brother, Ying Longzi who is the lightning lord of the twenty-fourth floor!”
“The fact that this Ying Longzi was capable of becoming the lightning lord of the twenty-fourth floor implies that his cultivation base must be at the Void Inquiry Stage. Besides, he probably is unrivalled among all the experts of the Void Inquiry Stage. With my capabilities, it is definitely impossible for me to kill him. However, it would also be completely impossible for him to kill me. I have the Heaven Deceiving Cloak and many other techniques. Even if Ying Longzi personally pursues me, I will definitely not suffer any injuries.”
“What if I kill all the way up to the twenty-fourth floor in one go…?!”
As soon as this bold idea surfaced in Ning Fan’s mind, he immediately eliminated it without a second thought.
He was in a hurry to accomplish Hong Yi’s mission by obtaining seven pieces of dark golden bamboo leaves in order to exchange for the golden leaves to treat Yue Lingkong’s injuries. He did not really have much time to slaughter his way up.
Dark golden bamboo leaves could also heal and nourish one’s primordial spirit. Naturally, it could also be used to save Yue Lingkong.
However, after witnessing the dark golden bamboo leaves with his own eyes, Ning Fan realized there were two difficulties posed a problem in saving someone using the dark golden bamboo leaves.
Firstly, with the intensity of the medicinal power in a dark golden bamboo leaf, it needed at least one hundred thousand years old spiritual medicine to harmonize its medicinal effect. That was an immortal medicine that would only be used in refining Seventh Revolution Pills. Ning Fan had none of them.
Secondly, the medicinal power of the dark golden bamboo leaves was too strong. It was not something a Void Refinement Realm cultivator could consume.
Perhaps only someone with Hong Yi’s status could obtain some one hundred thousand years old spiritual medicine to harmonize the dark golden bamboo leaves for consumption.
However, Ning Fan felt rather doubtful about this.
“Hong Yi… If this lady is just a Void Refinement Realm expert, could she really endure the terrifying medicinal power of the dark golden bamboo leaves? I keep having a feeling that she is hiding something from me. Fine. I have no interest in snooping on her secrets. If she has nothing to do with Honghong, then I also have nothing to do with her. What I should focus right now is to kill all the way up to the seventh floor as soon as possible.”
A terrifying killing intent rose in his eyes. He marched forward to the teleportation formation and entered the sixth floor.
At the moment he arrived at the sixth floor, he immediately patted his storage pouch to summon his three Void Refinement Realm spiritual puppets.
After fixing the injured spiritual puppet, he immediately went all-out and killed whatever was in his way.
After he gained new techniques, cultivators at the Void Glimpse Stage were no longer that scary to him.
He could travel unhindered in all floors below the tenth floor!
…
Three days later.
On the twenty-fourth floor of the lightning tower, a six thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) tall yellow dragon which had a pair of wings was lying down on a lightning swamp. He seemed to be asleep.
A black-armored guard then came and knelt on the ground to report something.
Suddenly, after hearing his subordinate’s report, his eyes widened with intense killing intent.
“Xu Longzi is dead?! Someone go and investigate. Find out who was behind his death. I want that person’s existence erased from the Black Lightning Tower forever!”
“Your Majesty, there’s no need to investigate anymore. This subordinate has found out who did it. In just a few days, the first to the ninth floor of the lightning tower have all been wiped out by a single man. According to some low-grade undead spirits who have personally seen him, the killer is this man!”
*Shua*
The black-armored guard rolled open a painting scroll which had a drawing of Ning Fan’s appearance.
When the yellow dragon saw his face, he narrowed his eyes and coldly said.
“So this is the man who committed the murder? Very well. Pass down my command. All undead spirits below the twenty-fourth floor shall pursue this evil creature with all their strength. No mistake is allowed! Within three days, I want the head of this evil creature to be presented before me as a sacrificial offering for my dead brother’s spirit!”
Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel
[1] Konjin (金神, “God of metals”) is an itinerant kami (spirit) from Onmyōdō (a traditional Japanese cosmology and system of divination based on the Chinese philosophies of Wu Xing (Five Elements) and Yin and yang). (Source: Wikipedia)