Grasping Evil

The little girl’s delicate hand had infinite strength. If it wasn’t because of Ning Fan’s extraordinary physique, her grip was enough to cause a serious injury to him.

After entering the Fourth Level, with a stomp of her small foot, a Four Marks Immortal Cloud immediately rose from the group. This cloud was familiar to Ning Fan. It was precisely the cloud he saw above the Rain Pond.

“Speak, where do you want to go, to watch the rain? I’ll bring you there!”

Under her long downward crescent eyebrows, her mouth that was filled with pills curled into a sweet smile.

There was nothing happier than having to eat Pill Cookies… Ning Fan was a good person, so she must bring him around for a good stroll!

The Four Marks Immortal Cloud was comparable to the Nascent Soul Realm. The little girl struck a ray of black light at the cloud. Then, the cloud was enveloped by chilly wind. Its speed was now doubled and comparable to an intermediate Nascent Soul expert.

On the Immortal Cloud, Ning Fan closed his eyes, letting the raindrops wet his face. There were silhouettes of Nascent Soul demonic beasts in the surroundings. They seemed to be attracted by the scent of Ning Fan’s  flesh and blood, wanting to fill their stomach with this meal.

But at this point, the little girl snorted and waved her delicate fists. Each of the demonic beast showed a look of struggle and the crowd dispersed.

Ning Fan didn’t know what identity this little girl actually had. Why were all the demonic beasts seem to be following her orders?

“Cookie Brother, don’t worry. As long as I’m here, no one can hurt you!” The little girl patted her tiny chest and smiled.

“…”

“Cookie Brother, I’m not scared of anyone in the grave except for Grandpa. So you don’t have to worry, no one is going to bully you!”

“…”

The little girl chattered, trying to curry favor from Ning Fan. Apparently, her intention was to ask for more benefits from Ning Fan after talking.

Ning Fan felt incomparably helpless being called with such a name. Should the cultivators in the outside world knew that the dignified ‘Revered Ning’ was called ‘Cookie Brother’ by a little girl, all the prestige he had established would certainly be lost.  

Slowly, his ears could no longer hear the din of the little girl, but only the drops of the rain.

The third level had no rain, whereas the fourth level had continuous drizzle, just like the first and second level before.

Despite the similarity, there were certain differences among these rains. After gaining a trace of insight about the Divine Intent of Rain, Ning Fan realized that the coldness of the rain in the first level was just like Spring Rain whereas the coldness of the rain in the second level was colder and contained the scent of rainstorm, like the Summer Rain.

As for the rain in the fourth level, it was lonely and forlorn, carrying a trace of solemnity. It was like Autumn Rain.

The rains in the nine levels of Dark Sparrow’s Grave were supposed to be the same, but after Que Shenzi’s enlightenment, each level of rain was endowed with varied degree of Divine Intent of Rain – from shallow to deep and from simple to complex. The valuable thing here wasn’t the Void Spirit Intent, but the process of comprehending the Void Spirit Intent. This rain would be a part of the process.

After experiencing the rainless momentum in the third level, Que Shenzi must have felt lonely and desolate in the fourth level.

Also, he must have stayed in the fourth level for a very long time, probably thousands of years. Otherwise, he would never have such a sense of desolation.

Ning Fan couldn’t help being invaded by the Autumn Rain. Slowly, his heart integrated with the rain. He then heard deeply hidden sighs within it.

“When one is reaching the end of the cultivation path, one is destined to be lonely. All my families and relatives have already passed away… Like the rain, the loneliness doesn’t disperse… Like the autumn, it doesn’t settle down… But without this desolate process, one can never cultivate Dao. The desolate is found not within the rain, but within my heart, and the rain merely mirrors it. This is the Divine Intent of Rain…”

The little girl willed the Immortal Cloud to descend and avoid interrupting Ning Fan from his the enlightenment. He stood upright in the rain silently for a long time.

It was desolation… but it seemed like this implication wasn’t enough to explain Que Shenzi’s path of Dao, and definitely not enough to integrate it into his Divine Intent of Rain!

“Let’s go to the fifth level…”

“Great! But the Pill Cookies you made aren’t enough for me…” The little girl avoided eye contact and chuckled.

“I will make the pills for you again after arriving in the fifth level!”

“Don’t you break your promise later!”

The little girl sounded slightly dispirited. Without the Pill Cookies, this place was extremely boring.

She leaped onto the Immortal Cloud and willed the cloud to move forward at lightning speed. There were Nascent Soul demonic beasts along the way, but when they smelled the trace of pill fragrance from the little girl, they seemed as if they had thought of something terrible in the past. They stayed dormant on the ground, afraid to move even a muscle.

The light of the cloud vanished into the huge pit that led to the fifth level. All of a sudden, the drizzle turned into winter cold rain.

Despite the extreme coldness, the rain had yet to freeze. Such a phenomenon certainly was beyond common sense.

No doubt it was rain. Even if it was an ice rain, it was totally different from ice!

Ning Fan’s eyes flashed. He began to feel that the ice rain in this level was unusual, it was unusual because it was endowed by the Divine Intent of Rain!

He recalled the magical technique he cultivated – the Ice Rain Technique. Although it was only a Spirit Level Magical Technique that was not worth mentioning, it coincided with the present scene.

He closed his eyes to gain more insight. Around him hid several Spirit Severing demonic beasts. Likewise, these demonic beasts were comprehending the Divine Intent of Rain while being drenched by the ice rain.

When Ning Fan entered the fifth level just now, each and every one of the demonic beasts revealed bloodthirsty eyes, but immediately, they withdrew their urge after being glared by the little girl.

They wouldn’t dare to do anything to Ning Fan anymore, but in their hearts, they looked down on this human. Any demonic beast that was above the Gold Core realm could shape-shift into human form. Although these demonic beasts had yet to transform, they already possessed the spiritual intelligence of humans.

“This brat is merely a Harmonious Spirit. But he can already gain enlightenment from Spirit Intent. Absurd...” An elephant-like beast spoke coldly in demonic language.  

“But he’s protected by ‘that person’. We’d better not interfere in this matter.”  Another demonic beast that looked like a rhinoceros said with concern.

These demonic beasts would certainly be peerless ferocious beasts if they were placed in the Rain Immortal World, but all of them dreaded the little girl.

And, just like what these demonic devils said, it wasn’t a smooth sailing process of enlightenment for Ning Fan.

For the first time, he wasn’t able to hear the insight of Que Shenzi from the rain.

The fifth level was like a watershed. The Divine Intent of Rain in this level began to change. The enlightenment in the fourth level became insignificant when it was compared with the enlightenment of fifth level. 

“What’s missing…?” Ning Fan frowned, then the little girl prompted.

“Brother Cookie, is it done yet…? You said that you will make Pill Cookies for me. I’m getting hungry…”

“OK OK. I know…” Ning Fan opened his eyes reluctantly. Being unable to gain enlightenment plus being annoyed by this little girl, his mind had totally lost its calm. 

He took out the Pill Cauldron of Xue Qing, then swung his sword at the ground to summon the earth fire, but he later discovered that he couldn’t draw out any earth fire as the Rain Intent of the fifth level was too strong.

In fact, it wasn’t because there was no earth fire. It was just that all the earth fire had been converted into rain water by the Divine Intent of Rain, seeping in the ground below.

“Haha, this brat is quite interesting… The Rain Intent here is so strong. How could he concoct pills without the earth fire…?” A white ape spoke sneeringly in demon language.

“How… how could this happen…? There’s no fire here… so how can Pill Cookies be made…?” The little girl showed an anxious look. While her mood was filled with worries, she had heard the cold sneer of the white ape.