Grasping Evil

Ning Fan turned around and looked unscrupulously at the thin old man.

He was only 1.5 meters tall. His body was as thin as firewood. His face was as cold as zombie. He wore black feathered clothes. His hair was so messy it looked like the spines of a hedgehog. Although his eyes were blood-red, his skin was pale-white. Ning Fan anticipated that this might be caused by living in a place with no light over the years.

The emergence of the man instantly gave Ning Fan a strong sense of danger…

Void Fragmentation!

He had offered the Ming Luo Fruit as the price in a threatening way. This old man put forward his request without giving Ning Fan any room for refusal.

Cold light flickered in Ning Fan’s eyes. He didn’t like such threatening feeling, even if this was a Void Fragmentation old expert!

His thoughts raced rapidly. The fact that this old man didn’t speak much indicated that he was unsocial and eccentric. The old man’s eyes glittered with fierce light that captured people’s attention. Judging from the character of this old man, he would never waste time on nonsense with Ning Fan. If he ever wanted Ning Fan to do anything, he could just suppress Ning Fan with his power!

Nevertheless, he still didn’t attack Ning Fan, and only threatened him verbally. Was it because of the little girl, or was there some other reason…?

Vaguely, he felt that this old man was staring at the earth vein demonic fire which he used to concoct pills with dread. Although it was hidden very deeply, Ning Fan was still able to discern it with his eyes.

That was strange…why would a Void Fragmentation old expert fear the earth vein demonic fire?!

He was an old man in black robe. There were black mists around him, seeming to have the spirit sense effect of shielding his cultivation base from being detected. To a Void Fragmentation old expert, such an act seemed somewhat superfluous. However, the Qi of the black mist gave Ning Fan a sense of familiarity. Immediately, he recalled where he had seen it before.

The pit of Ming Luo Fruit contained the same Qi! The formation that sealed the ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs in the little girl’s brocade pouch also radiated this Qi!

After having a firm guess, he made a strike with sword sense, slashing away the dark mist blanketing the old man’s body, and finally saw clearly the cultivation base of the old man.

“Sword sense?!”

The old man was slightly startled. When he saw Ning Fan’s expression, his face darkened.

“You saw it!”

“That’s right. I saw it…say it now. What is it that you want my help with? If your rewards are sufficient, perhaps I’ll say yes to it.”

Ning Fan revealed an inexplicable smile, and no longer had as much fear for the old man as before.

This old man was indeed a Void Fragmentation old monster, but he wasn’t his true self. Plus, this old man seemed to have a spontaneous fear of Ning Fan’s Black Demon Flame.

Indistinctly, Ning Fan could already feel the Qi of the old man, and after slashing away the black mist, he discovered the true identity of this old man.

The old man wasn’t human, but a tree! He was an old tree which had developed consciousness, he was the Ming Luo Tree!

The one that came was merely the root hair consisted of Void Fragmentation Qi, coming straight from the ninth level of the Dark Sparrow’s Grave, but its magical ability was only at Spirit Severing realm.

All of these happened because of the special suppression that existed in the different levels of Dark Sparrow’s Grave. Any demonic creature of higher realm wouldn’t be able to cross the boundary of the lower realm.

Ming Luo Tree was an extremely queer tree that couldn’t be exposed to any trace of fiery light, or else it would wither immediately. If this was the true body of the old tree, it might be able to resist the earth vein demonic flame with its magical power, but the one that came was a mere Spirit Severing realm clone of it. In the face of Ning Fan’s Fifth Grade Spiritual Fire—the Black Demon Flame—he was afraid that this clone would just withered by itself!

Within a short period of time, Ning Fan had pinpointed the weaknesses of the old man through various signs, and eliminated his fear for the old man. If the old man was his original self, perhaps Ning Fan would have no other choice, but since the old man had numerous weaknesses, it would only make Ning Fan an object of ridicule if he was threatened by such an old man.

The old man had a cloudy expression. He had been locking on the little girl with his spirit sense, worried about the safety of the girl. Fortunately, Ning Fan didn’t do anything to the girl.

As a matter of fact, he was reluctant to show up, but after witnessing Ning Fan breaking through to the Fifth Revolution of concoction technique, an idea began to rise in his mind. 

He wanted to catch Ning Fan, make him stay in Dark Sparrow’s Grave to become the personal Pill Master of the little girl! With the help of a Fifth Revolution Pill Master, the Void Poison in the girl’s body could probably be…

Given his Void Fragmentation cultivation base, he wasn’t able to come to the fifth level due to the suppression of the grave. So, he could only send his root clone to capture this man.

However, when he arrived, he discovered that Ning Fan was holding the horrifying earth vein demonic fire – a Fifth Grade Demonic Fire. If it was his true self, he wouldn’t be afraid of that, unfortunately, it was merely his clone. The body of Ming Luo Tree was unusual. Once it was shone by the fiery light, it would wither to death instantly.

Therefore, the old man had eliminated the idea of holding Ning Fan captive. Instead, he would use his fruit to lure Ning Fan into a trap while secretly unleashing his true aura. First, he would force Ning Fan into agreeing to his request. Then, he would bring Ning Fan to the ninth level. By that time, everything would be in his control! It was then up to him whether he should give rewards to Ning Fan. Also, it would be impossible for Ning Fan to leave Dark Sparrow’s Grave by himself!

A threatening word from the old man was no doubt hidden with infinite danger. If it was an ordinary person, he would probably already succumb to the Void Fragmentations’ might, lost his composure and calmness and got caught in the old man’s trap.

Unfortunately for the old man, the Void Fragmentation old monsters Ning Fan had met included Bone Sovereign, Moksha Sovereign, Small Sable and Yun Bushu. Ning Fan also had the inheritance of an Immortal Emperor. How could he be deterred by an old man with an aura of Void Fragmentation?

Ning Fan didn’t panic. Instead, he discovered the flaws from the old man’s words, gestures and Qi.

Ning Fan smiled at the old man, not saying another word. He would like to hear what the request of this old man was. If it wasn’t too difficult of a request, he would be most willing to get a few Ming Luo Fruit out of it.

But, if the old man wanted him to enter the ninth level of the grave, don’t even think about it!

Also, it was impossible for the old man to threaten him with death!

“Grand-grandpa…don’t be angry. Cookie Brother is a good person…” The little girl said timidly. Only by looking at the girl did the old man showed a trace of affability. 

“Bright Sparrow, you are still young…when you grow up, you will know the perilous heart of humans… If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have come into contact with the human race!”

Anger stirred inside of him when his eyes met Ning Fan’s.

Despite being threatened by him, instead of showing an angry look, Ning Fan smiled… Sure enough, humans had an extremely deep shrewdness. They were mean and had no sense of shame. No emotions of theirs were written on their face.

In fact, the old man didn’t understand why Ning Fan smiled. Smile was a kind of expression. It was a way to keep one’s countenance, totally unrelated to mood or even happiness and sadness.

“This old man is Ming Luo. Just like what you saw, this old man is merely a root hair clone that won’t do you any harm. I do have something to ask from you…about the details of it, I would like to invite you to the ninth level of Dark Sparrow’s Grave. We can have a proper discussion over there.”

“I’m not going into the ninth level… I will not even go to the sixth level!”

Ning Fan’s smile faded. He retreated three paces and stamped one of his feet, stamping the Black Demon Flame into the ground.

Immediately, a sizzling sound was heard from the ground. A root under the ground was burned to ashes. The old man named Ming Luo let out a groan, as though he had suffered a minor injury.

Sneak attack?! The old man took advantage of the time conversing with Ning Fan and then attacked with his root! 

…