Grasping Evil

Thirteen days had passed since the great battle had ended. Ning City was currently crowded with people. Most of the people who came to visit were from Sinister Sparrow Sect, Fire Cloud Sect and other sects who had previously requested a Nascent Formation pill.

Those sects that did not send reinforcement to Ning City feared that they had offended Black Devil Ning and might lose their chance of getting the precious pill, so they had come to visit with lavish gifts one after another.

Ning Fan did not bother meeting these people this time. As for the gifts, they were all accepted by Nan Gong.

Regarding the Nascent Formation pill, he would not go back on his words since he had already promised them.

What followed after that was a three-month long seclusion. In these three months and under the nourishment of innumerable medicinal pills, Ning Fan was fully recovered. However, his complexion was still as pale as a delicate scholar due to him severely lacking blood essence in his body.

For another next three months, an unbelievable phenomenon was seen above the skies of Ning City. It looked like a scene where a Fourth Revolution Pill was successfully formed.

Seven months had passed since the war, and Ning Fan’s desire to leave Yue Country became stronger.

Ning Fan, Gui Qiaozi and Jing Zhuo gathered in Ning City’s meeting hall for a conference. They were joined by Nan Gong and other high ranking officials of Ning City. The topic of discussion was about Ning Fan’s journey towards the Endless Sea and his core formation!

Nan Gong had been gathering information for the past seven months under the order of Ning Fan. There were three confirmed routes towards the Endless Sea.

The Endless Sea was situated at the far eastern side of the Rain World. The sphere of influence over there was measured by every floating island. There were thousands of islands over there, and each of those islands was occupied by either sects or cultivation clans.

One of the most famous ones was the “Ten Sects and Three Islands”. The ten sects were the strongest sects in the Endless Sea and were founded by humans. Whereas the three islands were a place of gathering for rogue cultivators. Each island was as big as a country. The Lost World Palace was just situated in one of those islands.

The first of the three routes was to depart from the east of Wu Country and cross over 10 Cultivation Countries, reaching the Ocean Country then ride on a ship… The distance of this route amounted to millions of li. This would take Ning Fan years to reach the Endless Sea if he travelled without using any form of transportation.

The second route was slightly faster than the first, departing through the south through the Chen Country, and crossing five cultivation countries until he reached Yu Country. Yu Country had a special Gold Core hawk beast that could fly as fast as a Nascent Soul cultivator, however one had to pay a high price to ride it. The maximum time required for this route was three years to reach the Endless Sea, which was at least two years faster compared to the first.

Ning Fan had never once nodded for the first two routes. It was already considered  quick if he were to reach the Endless Sea in three years, but he was short of time… he needed a quicker alternative…

Under the reminder of Old Ancestor Jing Zhuo, the third route was confirmed by Ning Fan.

The journey was to head north, entering the Song Country, passing through four Cultivation Countries, and finally, entering a mid-ranked Cultivation Country—Jin Country.

The cultivators in Jin Country were not strong. The strongest cultivator was only a Nascent Soul. But there was a division of Rain Palace established within the country, and an immemorial teleportation formation.

Each activation of the immemorial teleportation formation required a vast amount of immortal jade. It could teleport a person for a distance of  millions of li. It was rumored that the formation was initially an Immortal Void Realm Teleportation Formation, however it was broken and wasn’t worth researching anymore.

The teleportation formation was a good money-making method. Hence, a division of the Rain Palace was set up to monopolize the formation.

The formation was modified and was then separated into a dozen small formations by the Rain World’s Formation Grandmasters. It could teleport cultivators to a dozen locations, and one of them was the Ocean Country, the entry point to the Endless Sea.

The payment for the teleportation formation was around 100,000 immortal jades and above per person. Such a price was deemed astronomical. Cultivators who were below Nascent Soul realm wouldn’t be able to afford it.

Jing Zhuo was reluctant to choose this route as his whole asset only amounted to 100,000 immortal jades. He would rather spend several more years taking the longer route. However, Ning Fan made up his mind without hesitation as soon as he heard of this route.

Only a year was needed to reach the Endless Sea!

“We’ll pick this route then!”

Ning Fan’s choice gave Old Ancestor Jing Zhuo the urged to stop him, but looking at the resolute expression of Ning Fan’s face, Jing Zhuo decided to shut his mouth.

He did not know why Ning Fan was in such a hurry. Perhaps… Ning Fan had his own reasons.

If it was not for Ning Fan, only God knows when he could he kill Old Devil Purple Yin. However, did he really need to escort Ning Fan through this route? Rumours had it that Jin Country was becoming unstable recently…

“Forget it, this old man shall give up 100,000 immortal jades and escort you through this route!” In the end, Jing Zhuo clenched his teeth and made his decision.

“Then… I shall thank Fellow Daoist Jing Zhuo for your kindness… The date of departure would be 10 days later, since this long journey will require a lot of preparation,” Ning Fan smilingly said to Jing Zhuo.

He was already prepared to leave Yue country in the next 10 years. All of the Nascent Formation Pills were already concocted and were sent to Gui Qiaozi. Each of those pills would be given to each sect according to the agreed dates.

The remaining preparation was to bid farewell to Yue Country where he had lived for two years.

I have to at least go back and visit Master and Ning Gu…

He originally wanted to go back and visit Demon Sinister Forest one more time. But after giving it some thought, he changed his mind. Given the fact that he now had a life and death enmity with the Bone Sovereign, if he went back now, it would only trigger the fury of Bone Sovereign. The sovereign would then hunt down him at all costs, creating events that Ning Fan could never foresee.

“Yue Country… This is the place where I started my Devil Cultivation, made friends and enemies… I will return if I am not dead…”

…

Ning Fan was mysteriously called away by Zhi He right after he left the meeting hall.

“Brother Fan, Sisi said she’s unwell, she asked you to treat her tonight…”

“To treat her? What illness does she have?” Ning Fan looked at Zhi He’s blinking eyes, feeling puzzled.  

“Of course there is… anyway… you’ll know the moment you get there… You do not need to come to my room tonight… ” Zhi He blushed and ran away. Only God knew what she and Si Wuxie had discussed.

Ning Fan’s gaze sharpened. In his opinion, Si Wuxie had probably recovered her memories. Because he was busy recovering and refining pills for these past few months, he had not paid any attention towards her… What ulterior motives did she have for asking him to go to her room? Or was it because of some erotic motive?

“ … ”

“Anyhow… a settlement has to be made with this girl… whether she is the clone of the Jade Pool Saintess or still Sisi… This girl had obviously restored her memories, yet she had helped me once. Her thoughts are hard to read…”