Grasping Evil

After having a brief conversation with the Death Devil Guard, Ning Fan left and continued browsing through the fifth floor on his own.

Commander Si Mo cupped his fists and respectfully bowed to Ning Fan. Only when Ning Fan had walked quite some distance away from him did he straightened up his back again. His expression turned cold and indifferent again and he showed a stern face to everyone.

He had a solitary but arrogant personality and his arrogance would only allow him to yield to Ning Fan.

The day of Ning Fan’s arrival had shocked everyone. He defeated Shi Kun overwhelmingly and saved the Giant Devil Clan. His greatness that day had enthralled innumerable experts of the clan. In the clan, there were a lot of people like Si Mo who admire Ning Fan.

As Ning Fan gradually walked further and further away, the name of the troop he met earlier, the Death Devil Guard crossed his mind and it made him ponder.

In the Giant Devil Clan, there were eight great devil divisions in total. They were named after the eight gateways of Qimen Dunjia¹ which were Kai(开), Xiu(休), Sheng(生), Shang(伤), Du(杜), Jing(景), Si(死), Jing(惊).

From the information Ning Fan obtained from Yao Lian, it also mentioned the eight gateways.

The Eight Ancestors of the Giant Devil Clan hide themselves in a small broken chiliocosm and oversee the Eight Gates and Six Dao…

Many of the cultivation methods and magic techniques of the Giant Devil Clan are related to the Eight Gates. As for the Six Dao… If I am not mistaken, many of the cultivation methods of the Six-Winged Clan are related to the Six Dao.

The Eight Gates and Six Dao. The Giant Devil Clan and the Six-Winged Clan. What’s the relationship between them in these aspects…?

Ning Fan chose to cast these thoughts aside for the moment.

He continued to shop around the hundreds of medicine stalls which were temporarily set up on the fifth floor. Two hours later, he had browsed through nearly two-thirds of the medicine stalls. It was a fruitful trip as he managed to buy quite a lot of excellent medicinal ingredients.

Unfortunately, after shopping for so long, he still had yet to find a ten thousand years old human placenta.

Well, he managed to find a few one thousand years old human placenta. He bought them all but he was still not satisfied.

If the ten thousand years old human placenta is substituted with a one thousand years old human placenta, not only would it become more difficult to concoct the Revered Devil Pill, but the medicinal power of the pill is guaranteed to be lower even if he could complete refine the pill by chance.

Ning Fan gently shook his head.

If I really can’t get a ten thousand years old human placenta here, then I will just wait for it to pop up someday.

If I still can’t get in the future… then I will just improvise with the one thousand years old human placenta.

He turned around and tried to walk away. At the next moment, however, he stopped with his eyes filled with surprise.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly had a feeling that someone with really fierce and penetrating eyes was staring at him. He felt a jolt with every fibre of his being which made the hair on his back stand up.

It feels extremely dangerous! Who is staring at me?!

The sharpness of this set of eyes was comparable to a Void Fragmentation Realm expert. On top of that, it was much more intense than Yun Jinghong and Chu Chang’an who possessed Void Fragmentation Realm cultivation bases!

Could it be that there’s a Void Fragmentation Realm old monster spying on me nearby?!

Ning Fan quickly turned around and looked at the direction where it gave him that feeling just now. His gaze fell upon a medicine stall.

There was an old Daoist with ragged clothes sitting inside that stall. He was fanning a palm-leaf woven fan while meditating with his eyes closed in a relaxed manner.

He seemed to have been closing his eyes for a long time like he had never checked on Ning Fan at all.

Ning Fan’s eyes turned slightly serious. He secretly released his spirit sense to identify this man’s cultivation base. He found out that this old man had a Late Nascent Soul Realm cultivation base but it was rather illusory and unstable.

He activated his Fu Li Eye and Mo Luo Eye together. However, he could not detect any signs of him concealing his cultivation base from him.

Ning Fan then noticed the badge he wore. It was a Third Revolution badge from the Rain Palace. That discovery made Ning Fan furrow his brows.

The Rain Palace would never give a pill refinement master badge away casually. Moreover, each badge must go through the process of recognition using the blood of the owner. A single badge would only recognize a single master. If the badge is seized by others, it would immediately destroy itself.

The Rain Palace pill refinement master badge that this Old Daoist wore was not only a genuine badge but it also looked brand new. Clearly, he had just obtained this badge not long ago.

It was extremely unlikely for the Rain Palace to falsify the pill refinement mastery of a pill refinement master. Deducing from all these signs, that Old Daoist should be a Third Revolution Pill Master without a doubt.

However, Ning Fan’s instincts kept telling him that there was something strange about this Old Daoist. When he carefully observed the Old Daoist again, he became more certain that he was not simple.

It was because at the moment he looked at the Old Daoist, the devil flame within his dantian was actually shivering mildly. It was giving a signal as if it was facing its nemesis!

Ning Fan’s devil flame sensed the threatening feeling of its kind from the Old Daoist’s body!

What kind of flame was inside the Old Daoist’s body for it to scare Ning Fan’s flame?!

Ning Fan’s devil flame was formed from the combination of 16 types of Heavenly Cold Qi and Earth Flame and 1 type of Sixth Grade Void Flame. Its destructive power was nearly comparable to that of a Mid Level Seventh Grade Immortal Void Flame.

If the Old Daoist possesses the type of flame that could threaten Ning Fan’s devil flame, it must be a flame of at least the Seventh Grade or above.

However, could a Late Nascent Soul Realm Third Revolution Pill Master possess such a powerful flame?

The answer was, of course, a big fat no!

Almost immediately, Ning Fan was convinced that this Old Daoist was the mysterious expert who was spying on him earlier.

Would this ordinary-looking Old Daoist truly be a Void Fragmentation Realm expert…?

When ordinary cultivators realize that that Old Daoist had Void Fragmentation Realm aura force, they would normally go up and curry favor with him at once, trying to obtain as much benefit as possible.

However, Ning Fan dismissed all of his feelings of surprise in the next moment. He turned around and left without taking a second look at the Old Daoist. He did not wish to expose the fact that he had already recognized the latter’s Void Fragmentation Realm aura force.

He was reluctant to get involved with this mysterious old man in any way!

Who knows why this Old Daoist spied on him and why he would appear in this place?

All in all, Ning Fan did not want to bring himself any unnecessary trouble.

Just as Ning Fan had decided to leave, the eyes of the old man which were closed all this time suddenly opened. His expression was filled with a hint of surprise.

“This kid’s senses are quite sharp. He actually managed to sense the Seventh Grade spiritual flame that I possess and discern my identity as a Void Fragmentation Realm expert. Moreover, after he knew of my identity as a Void Fragmentation Realm expert, he turned around and walked away while maintaining his calmness from beginning to end. Obviously, he doesn’t wish to foster any relation with me with the worry that he might get himself into trouble. This is a very excellent trait. One should always be cautious in living in this world… He is worthy of owning the Black Devil Flame…”

The Old Daoist shook his head and made a satisfied smile.

The reason why he came to the Pill Ceremony in the Internal Endless Sea initially, was because he wanted to travel around after staying in seclusion for too long with the hope of getting some insights and achieving a breakthrough in his pill refinement realm that had been stuck for a very long time.

However, he did not expect that he would meet the possessor of the Black Devil Flame.

If that’s the case, it seems like I should take advantage of this chance to fulfill my promise to ‘that person’.

“That young friend over there, please stop.” The Old Daoist called Ning Fan with an indifferent voice.

Many people around them heard the Old Daoist calling Ning Fan as a young friend. All of them stared blankly at him like they were looking at a fool.

Doesn’t he know who Ning Fan was? He was a fierce man who could kill a Void Refinement Realm expert. Even ordinary Divine Transformation Realm cultivators would need to call him ‘Senior’ when greeting him.

Now, this Old Daoist just did himself a ‘great’ thing. A Third Revolution Pill Master with just Nascent Soul Realm cultivation base like him actually dared to address Ning Fan as a young friend. Was he itching to get a rough beating or had gotten tired of living?

Ning Fan’s eyes turned stern.

It seems like trouble has come to me itself.

Even though he had no idea why the Old Daoist called him, it wasn’t appropriate for him to continue walking away since this matter had already developed to this extent.

Ning Fan turned around and made a faint smile. He stopped. He no longer walked away. Instead, he walked towards the medicine stall of that Old Daoist.

He just did not want to get involved himself in any trouble. Besides, he had done nothing wrong. Hence, he was not afraid that this Void Fragmentation Realm old daoist would deliberately find fault in him.

On top of that, he also had the so-called ‘Indestructible Fire Body’ which served as his life-saving “talisman” that could ensure his safety and peace in the Rain World using the powerful influence of the Rain Palace.

“Senior, is there any advice you wish to enlighten me with?” Ning Fan stopped outside the medicine stall and cupped his fists to greet the Old Daoist.

This scene startled each of the pill refinement masters present.

Ning Fan was an extremely impressive person. However, he actually called an old daoist as his senior. What background did this Old Daoist have?

A few pill refinement masters from the eight hundred cultivation countries began to carefully study the Old Daoist’s appearance. When they looked closely enough, each of them behaved like they had just seen a ghost.

They finally understood why Ning Fan would address this Old Daoist as senior despite his dignified identity.

“H-He’s the Pill…” A pill refinement master’s eyes were blazing with flames of enthusiasm. He was too excited that he could not speak a single word properly.

“Fellow Daoist, please speak with care! That lord dislikes making himself known the most. Since he appeared in this place while keeping a low profile, it naturally implies that he doesn’t want to get attention. We must not make any commotion. We should hurry up and leave. Don’t ever anger him.” Another pill refinement master reminded him.

The group of pill refinement masters from the eight hundred cultivation countries did not dare to expose the Old Daoist’s identity. After each of them saluted him with their utmost respect, they swiftly left the place. None of them dared to stay there any longer.

As for some pill refinement masters who were observing at the other side, many of them had discerning eyes as well.

When they saw Ning Fan being so polite towards the Old Daoist and many pill refinement masters from the eight hundred cultivation countries were showing so much respect to him, they knew that this Old Daoist must have an extremely influential background. They also did not dare to make him unhappy. After they cupped their fists to pay respect to him, they left the place one after another.

In just a brief moment, only the Old Daoist and Ning Fan were left outside the stall.

“Young friend, you have excellent self-control.” The Old Daoist complimented sincerely.

“Thank you for your compliment, ‘Senior Li’. I wonder for what reason the Senior called this junior.”

From the reactions and behaviors of the people just now, Ning Fan became more certain that this Old Daoist was truly a Void Fragmentation Realm old monster.

Aside from that, he could even guess this man’s identity.

There were only a handful of Void Fragmentation Realm experts in the Rain World. Just now, someone had said the word ‘Pill’ when he saw this Old Daoist.

Among the Void Fragmentation Realm experts in the Rain World, there was only one man whose title began with ‘Pill’…

The Pill Sovereign, Li Cangtian!

If Ning Fan was not wrong, the old man in front of him was the Pill Sovereign!

According to rumors, the Pill Sovereign had stayed in seclusion for a very long time. He had been trying to break through to the Seventh Revolution Pill Refinement Realm. Unexpectedly, he came to the Internal Endless Sea. Ning Fan could guess that the reason why the Pill Sovereign came to the Internal Endless Sea was to gain some insights through travelling.

The Pill Sovereign was said to wholly immerse himself in the Dao of Pills and was uninterested in worldly affairs.

Besides, according to rumors, the Pill Sovereign was the leader of the ‘Four Greatest Void Fragmentation Realm Experts’. His cultivation base was at the Third Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm while his pill refinement mastery was at the peak of the Sixth Revolution. However, he never involved himself in or intervened in any fights.

He had a generous personality. His demeanor was like that of a venerable elder. He never indiscriminately slaughtered the innocent too.

Because of this reason, Ning Fan was less worried in facing this person after he guessed his identity. He was not worried that the latter harbored malicious intent against him.

After identifying this person’s identity, Ning Fan did not address him as the Pill Sovereign. Instead, Ning Fan called him ‘Senior Li’. Without a doubt, he wanted to help the Pill Sovereign maintain a low profile without exposing his true identity.

The Pill Sovereign nodded with approval after hearing how Ning Fan called him.

Firstly, he was satisfied with Ning Fan’s intelligence. In just a few breaths, he managed to guess his identity and even understand what he wanted by using a very decent greeting.

Secondly, he was satisfied with Ning Fan’s composure. This level of composure was definitely not something ordinary people possessed.

The Pill Sovereign noticed that Ning Fan was just slightly shocked when he discovered that someone was spying on him.

Since then, he did not show any emotion even if he had already guessed the Pill Sovereign’s identity. His eyes were as calm as a millpond. There weren’t any emotional fluctuations in him as he remained tranquil and still.

Only cultivators who have gone through a lot in life and experienced countless life-threatening danger have such composure.

The Pill Sovereign was already convinced that Ning Fan was certainly a man with a strong and unwavering Dao Heart.

This young man is worthy of being the disciple of that person. He doesn’t bring him any embarrassment.

“Young friend, you don’t have to worry. I have no hostility in calling you over here to me. In fact, I wish to form good relations with you. I once obtained benefits from an old friend of mine and I’ve made a promise to him that I will give you three lessons on pill refinement. I believe that we were fated to meet in Cold Northern Country. Thus, I have the intentions of passing some knowledge about pill refinement to you. I wonder if you are willing to learn?”

The Pill Sovereign nodded gently with a smile. Even though he was ill-groomed, his presence gave off an ethereal and misty aura like that of a celestial being.

This was the quality of a pill refinement grandmaster. It was just like a green lotus that grew from mud. Despite the external environment, its quality remained unchanged.

Ning Fan’s eyes flashed with surprise. He knew that the Pill Sovereign had no hostility in calling him over and only expected that he might have some questions he wanted to ask him.

However, he did not expect that the Pill Sovereign actually wanted to give him some lessons on pill refinement!

In Ning Fan’s journey of learning the Dao of Pills, he never had a proper teacher. Even though he had Old Devil as his master, it was impossible for him to teach Ning Fan things about pill refinement since he was not skilled in that field in the first place.

From the bottom of his heart, Ning Fan was more than willing to accept the teachings of the Pill Sovereign. Even though he was proud and aloof, he was not arrogant. At least, he deeply understood that his current pill refinement mastery was extremely insignificant compared to the Pill Sovereign, just like the brightness of a firefly to the full moon.

The Pill Sovereign was the best pill refinement master of the Rain World. Besides, in the Nine Worlds, he was also a person with great fame.

Countless pill refinement masters yearned to obtain just a single sentence of teaching from the Pill Sovereign. However, even though the Pill Sovereign had an easygoing personality, he seldom passed his knowledge to others.

The fact that the Pill Sovereign was willing to teach Ning Fan three times was certainly an extremely good news to him. This could considerably increase his mastery in pill refinement!

However, Ning Fan had doubts. Before resolving this, he could not accept the Pill Sovereign’s good intentions recklessly.

“Senior Li, if I may be so bold as to ask, may I know who requested you to teach me?” Ning Fan’s heartbeat slightly sped up as soon as he asked this question. He really wanted to know who was so concerned about him that he even asked the Pill Sovereign to become his temporary teacher.

In the Rain World, Ning Fan had countless women and beauties. However, he only had a handful of people who were really close to him.

A person who was really concerned about him and was able to ask the Pill Sovereign to help him out. Who could it be…?

“I can’t tell you… His identity is rather special. As a member of the Rain Palace, I can’t interact with him very often. Otherwise, it will go against the heavenly rules of the Four Heavens.”

The Pill Sovereign shook his head with a smile.

“Then, please allow this junior to ask a different question. How could you be so sure that I am the one whom that person requested you to help?”

“The Black Devil Flame. The Black Devil Flame that carried a hint of his qi.”

As soon as the Pill Sovereign’s words fell, a feeling of warmth suddenly flowed across Ning Fan’s body.

Ning Fan gently closed his eyes with a warm smile.

Black Devil Flame…

Indeed, it was the Old Devil who was concerned about him.

After the Old Devil kept Ning Fan as his disciple, he seldom taught him magic techniques. Instead, he kept guiding Ning Fan by example, passing to him the path of survival for devil cultivators.

It was because the Old Devil thought that learning how to be a person, a proper devil cultivator, was much more important than learning magic techniques and other things…

Sovereign Moksha had learnt magic techniques very well. However, he had never learnt how to be a decent person. That was why he walked the wrong path in the end. It was the most regretful thing the Old Devil had in his life.

Even though the time the Old Devil spent with Ning Fan was short, he had passed on all of his Devil Dao to him.

However, he still felt sorry for Ning Fan because he had to head to the Sword World in such a hurry and it left him no chance to teach him magic techniques.

He knew that Ning Fan’s innate talent in pill refinement was terrifying. When he was at the Seven Apricot City in the past, his pill refinement mastery was already at the Fourth Revolution.

Old Devil was not willing to neglect Ning Fan’s talent. Hence, he hired the Pill Sovereign at great cost to become Ning Fan’s teacher in pill refinement.

“Thank you… Master…”

Ning Fan opened his eyes. The feeling of warmth in him lingered.

The path of cultivation was cruel and lonesome. However, the relationship he had with his loved ones was what kept his conscience after killing countless people.

“Since it’s the good intentions of my master, I don’t dare to disobey it. Please teach me the knowledge of pill refinement, Senior Li!”

“Hehe. A young man like you can be taught.” The Pill Sovereign nodded with satisfaction. He could see Ning Fan’s gratitude for the Old Devil in his eyes.

Between these two people, their master-disciple relationship was like the relationship between father and son. In the cold and cruel cultivation world, it’s really rare to find such a precious relationship. Many masters and disciples turned against each other due to their selfishness. Because of some benefits, they fought and killed among themselves. That’s just how cold-blooded reality was.

The Pill Sovereign had no apprentice. He had always wished for an apprentice like Ning Fan who would treat his own master with sincerity and genuineness, just like how a son would treat his own father.

Unfortunately, Ning Fan had already recognized the Old Devil as his master. Even if the Pill Sovereign teaches Ning Fan his pill refinement techniques, he would at most be considered as half a master to him.

“That Old Man Han separated one-fourth of the ‘Pure Yang Flame’ from the ‘Pure Yang Coffin’ and gave it to me. Because of that, I promised him to teach you. Originally, I was prepared to go on a long trip and look for you in Yue Country after I have achieved the goal of my secluded training. I didn’t expect that I would bump into you right here in the Internal Endless Sea. Unexpectedly, the great and notorious Devil Lord Zhou Ming is Young Friend Ning Fan that Old Man Han is so concerned about.”

The Pill Sovereign conveyed this message to Ning Fan through telepathy. He did not have a deep relationship with the Old Devil but the both of them were easygoing, impulsive and emotional people. As the saying goes, ‘like knows like’, their relationship was similar to being supportive and compassionate to one of their own.

Moreover, Old Devil had given the Pill Sovereign one-fourth of the Pure Yang Flame. One has to know that the Pure Yang Flame was an immortal flame. Even though it was just one-fourth of the whole flame, its destructive power was stronger than common Mid Level Seventh Grade Immortal Void Flames.

That’s why Ning Fan’s flame was so afraid of the Pill Sovereign’s flame. After all, the Pill Sovereign possessed one-fourth of an immortal flame.

“Master actually gave up one-fourth of the flame of the Pure Yang Coffin for me?!”

Ning Fan’s eyes were filled with shock. He felt slightly pained inside.

That Pure Yang Coffin was the coffin the Old Devil used to hold the body of his beloved wife. It was a Pure Yang Cosmos Treasure!

After losing one-fourth of the immortal flame, the power of the Pure Yang Coffin would surely be reduced by a great deal. Even though it might not necessarily have too much impact on his ‘slumbering’ wife, it would still affect her more or less.

What Old Devil had done was sacrificing a small benefit for his beloved wife in order to get Ning Fan the best benefit possible.

His act was telling Ning Fan that he truly hoped that he could save his wife. However, in the Old Devil’s heart, Ning Fan was similarly important and he would not give up his life for his wife.

This was Old Devil’s principle!

Ning Fan became even more determined to gain the strength to wipe out the Rain World so that he could eliminate Sovereign Moksha and avenge his master!

After falling into silence for quite some time, Ning Fan regained his calmness. In his usual demeanor, he said to the Pill Sovereign with respect.

“Senior Li, may I know what pill refinement techniques you are planning to teach me today?”

“Hehe. There’s no need to rush. Come and have a look here. Can you find anything strange about the spiritual herbs I am selling here? Look at them carefully. There is a ten thousand years old human placenta that you have been looking for.”

Ning Fan did as the Pill Sovereign asked and began studying the spiritual herbs inside his stall.

Some of the spiritual herbs were extremely old while some others were low-grade ingredients. However, no matter what spiritual herb, all of their prices were excessively high.

Ning Fan checked the surroundings and could not find a ten thousand years old human placenta within the stall. There was not a single one thousand years old or one hundred years old human placenta.

“Reporting to Senior, there is no ten thousand years old human placenta in the stall.”

“Are you sure?” The Pill Sovereign’s smile faded and his expression turned extremely serious.

At the next moment, a surge of black purple medicine soul spread across the entire stall!

This black purple medicine soul was extremely close to the Seventh Revolution. Its intensity gave Ning Fan a feeling of suffocation!

However, what was strange was when the Pill Sovereign displayed his medicine soul, he only revealed the Absolute Void Stage cultivation base despite the fact that his cultivation base was said to be at the Third Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm.

The Pill Sovereign had deliberately restricted the effective area of his medicine soul and aura force. Hence, other than Ning Fan, no one in all of the five floors of the Eternal Peace Pavilion sensed his medicine soul.

As the Pill Sovereign released his medicine soul, a tuft of ordinary-looking lingzhi ¹suddenly trembled. At the next moment, it took off its disguise and returned to its original appearance as a ten thousand years old human placenta!

Astonishment filled Ning Fan’s eyes. He finally understood what was strange about this medicine stall.

Be it the good spiritual herbs or the bad spiritual herbs in the stall, all of them were disguised to conceal their original forms!

Among them, there was even the ten thousand years old human placenta that Ning Fan was looking for!

Could the first lesson the Pill Sovereign wanted to teach Ning Fan be the usage of medicine soul?

Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel

1. Qimen Dunjia (Chinese: 奇门遁甲Pinyin: qí mén dùn jiǎ Literal Translation: Mysterious gates escape technique)

It is an ancient form of divination from China. It is one of the three most powerful divination methods and it is still used today in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia.

The eight Gates of this method represents the human disk which is a significant component of this method and they summarize the possible influence from human beings. They are Kai (开), Xiu(休), Sheng(生), Shang(伤), Du(杜), Jing(景), Si(死), Jing(惊) respectively. Each Gate has its own meaning and they carry different meaning. Literally, Kai (开) means relax; Xiu(休) means rest; Sheng(生) means birth; Shang(伤) means injury; Du(杜) means clumsy; Jing(景) means prospect; Si(死) slacken or death; Jing(惊) means surprise.

For more information, do check out the link of the sources.