Grasping Evil

Down the hill, there was a vast meadow  full of tall grasses. Occasionally, a few nightingales would fly past the grasses and settle on a weeping willow tree by the riverbank. Ning Fan climbed up to the summit of a spiritual mountain and excavated his abode for a secluded cultivation.

The excitement he felt ever since they entered the Lost World Tower was replaced with peace and serenity.

Core Formation, I want to achieve Core Formation!

With so many treasures and pills in his possession, he could have formed his Gold Core long ago without fail. The only element that held him back was the heart devil that he was reluctant to cut. He was reluctant to forgo his feelings for the women he loved.

However, after everything he had been through in his journey, an intention of defying the heavens rose in his heart. He no longer feared the heavens, let alone the heart’s devil!

I suppose it would take me around 10 years to form my core. The remaining 310 years would all be used to increase my cultivation realm for as much as possible!

Before he started to have a breakthrough the bottleneck and attain Gold Core Realm, the first thing he did was to cure his injuries from the previous battles.

The Spirit Severing Realm Demon General… The devil cultivators from the Demon Sealing Sect… The self-destructive use of teleportation in the Endless Sea… His injuries were just too severe. If it wasn’t because of the injuries which he suppressed by force, he could have smoothly passed Bei Xiao Man’s test.

If he did not try to fully recover, the probability of forming his Gold Core would become lower.

…

For ten years, he sat up straight in a meditative position in his abode without moving a single limb.

His body recuperated from the cracked bones and superficial cuts. His unstable Sea of Consciousness was also fully restored after taking countless recovery pills! Through the past ten years of treating his wounds, his magic power began to grow a little more powerful.

Ning Fan slapped his storage pouch and fished out a three chi* long black jade ruler. It was known as the Heavenly Measuring Ruler. It was made by taking inspiration from a type of magical treasure from the Four Heavens Immortal World that was used to measure a cultivator’s magic power.

Every cultivator who entered the tower would receive it as a gift if they spend more than a million immortal jade.

With this ruler in hand, cultivators would be able to know the speed of their growth in terms of magic power.

For common cultivators, the higher the cultivation realm, the stronger the magic power. That was the norm in the cultivation world. Ning Fan, however, was an exception. Since he fused his magic power and demon power into one, his total magic power was comparable to an Early Gold Core Realm expert who was on the verge of breaking through to the Mid Gold Core Realm.

Of course, a cultivator’s combat power could not be judged solely on their magic power and cultivation realm. For cultivators who possessed Immemorial Divine or Devil Veins like Ning Fan, they were able to battle with experts who had higher cultivation realms than themselves.

He held the Heavenly Measuring Ruler and squinted his eyes to see the scale on the ruler.

When he rotated his magic power within his body, the body of the ruler glowed and stopped at the sixth unit of the scale. After fusing both the magic power and his demon power, the glowing part raised to the ninth unit.

The unit was only used for measuring the magic power of cultivators who were at Gold Core Realm and above. Furthermore, this unit carried a hidden meaning with it. A single unit of magic power indicated 60 years of cultivation for common cultivators at an environment where spiritual qi is thin like that of a Low-Grade Cultivation Country.

Nine units of magic power signified that he was not far away from achieving the Mid Gold Core Realm. However, it was still worlds apart from a Nascent Soul Realm expert.

In order to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm, one has to obtain 50 units of magic power! For ordinary cultivators who do not have any luck in finding pills or treasures, they would need to cultivate at least 3000 years to gain that much magic power. But a Gold Core Realm cultivator only has a lifespan of 1000 years. As such, talent and the cultivation environment determine the end point of a cultivator. Those without unique talents could only hope that they encounter good opportunities like joining a powerful sect or robbing other cultivators and obtain pills and treasures to improve their magic power faster than cultivating…

The required magic power to break through the rest of the cultivation realms above Nascent Soul Realm increased sharply. For instance, a Mid Nascent Soul Realm expert must possess at least a 100 units of magic power. A Late Nascent Soul Realm expert must have 300 units of magic power. In order to break through the Peak Nascent Soul Realm, an individual must attain 1500 units of magic power!

In layman’s term, a Peak Nascent Soul Realm expert’s magic power is equivalent to the total magic power of 300 Early Gold Core Realm cultivators… That is the huge difference between the Gold Core Realm and the Nascent Soul Realm!

As for Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts who want to advance to Spirit Severing Realm, they would need 100000 units of magic power!

Magic power would increase bit by bit daily whenever cultivators cultivate. However, the speed of growth was difficult to discern. Therefore, the Heavenly Measuring Ruler was created to allow cultivators to keep track on their improvements.

Ning Fan then took out different kinds of items that he had long prepared for his cultivation from his storage pouch.

A bottle containing the Primordial Yin blood from the female virgins of Song Country, a cultivation pill obtained from the old ancestor of Hu Clan, Hu Fengzi and a Third Revolution pill – Rainbow Gold Core which could increase the chances of successfully forming a Gold Core. Aside from that, he also possessed a Mid Gold Core Realm Dao Fruit, a Peak Gold Core Realm Dao Fruit and nine Min Luo Fruits!

These items would drastically boost my magic power even after I form my Gold Core!

But it was still not the appropriate time for him to consume them. Ning Fan first had to work hard to perfect the realms of his cultivation methods or techniques.

“Black Devil Spell” is at the peak of the second level.

“Snow Treading Art” is at the peak of the second level.

“Yin Yang Transformation” is at the third realm of the first level.

“Camelia Scripture” is at the peak of the second level.

“Colossal Bone Secret Art” is at the fourth realm of the third level.

The higher the level of his cultivation methods, the stronger the destructive power of his magic power. Even though the amount of magic power he possessed remains the same, the quality of his magic power became more pure. Other than the Yin Yang Transformation, the rest of his cultivation methods or techniques could be improved through self-cultivation.

After knowing what he needed to do, he sat down in his abode and breathed in deeply, allowing the spiritual qi to spread to every fiber of his being. Meanwhile, he rotated the magic power in his dantian, resonating with heaven and earth. He practiced this breathing exercise every single day.

…

50 years flew by in a flash. Each and every of one of his cultivation methods were levelled up except for his Yin Yang Transformation.

“Black Devil Spell” and “Snow Treading Art” broke through to the peak of the third level!

“Camelia Scripture” and “Colossal Bone Secret Art” reached the peak of the third level!

Yes. Cultivating the Colossal Bone Secret Art needed Burning Blood Pills. During the cultivation of that art, Ning Fan unleashed his killing intent without any restraints in this vast space after consuming multiple Burning Blood Pills. A large  number of mountains and streams were obliterated but all of them would be restored in the form of mist not long after being destroyed.

Currently, he held the Heavenly Measuring Ruler in his hand once more and there were 8 units displayed on the scale. When he added in his demon power, he had a total of 11 units of magic power. He had already surpassed the standard amount of magic power possessed by just about any Mid Gold Core Realm expert!

It’s the time for me to break through the bottleneck of the Gold Core Realm!

He gulped down the Primordial Yin blood and assimilated it into his veins.

As a result, his “Yin Yang Transformation” broke through to the sixth realm of the first level!

At the same time, his magic power increased to 10 units! He could now be considered as a Mid Gold Core Realm without the need of adding in his demon power!

He grasped the cultivation pill from the ground and stared at it in silence.

I’ve fulfilled my promise to Hu Fengzi. Therefore, I am qualified to consume it!

After absorbing the essence of the pill, his magic power reached 12 units!

His gaze then shifted to the two Dao Fruits in front of him. They contained the cultivation power amassed by two Gold Core Realm experts in their whole lives of cultivation.

It has been rumored that consuming a Dao Fruit would allow a Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivator to directly break through to Gold Core Realm in an instant! For Gold Core Realm experts who consume a Dao Fruit, their cultivation realms would have small but significant improvement.

In terms of magic power units, a Dao Fruit obtained from an ordinary Gold Core Realm expert would increase at least 5 units of magic power. This was why it was said to enable Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivators to achieve Gold Core Realm in one go.

A Mid Gold Core Realm Dao Fruit contained a slightly higher amount of magic power than the ordinary ones while the Peak Gold Core Realm Dao Fruit could raise a cultivator’s magic power by 6 units!

Ten days passed by in a blink of an eye! Ning Fan completely ingested the fruits and his magic power reached 23 units in total. That amount of magic power was even greater than that of a Peak Gold Core Realm cultivator. Moreover, after he form his Gold Core, he would be able to break through to the Peak Gold Core Realm in one go. Despite that, there was still a long way to reach the Nascent Soul Realm.

Within a hundred years, I will achieve Gold Core Realm. The remaining two hundred and sixty years would then be used to form my Nascent Soul!

The last step before he start to form his Gold Core was to swallow the Min Luo Fruits!

The Min Luo Fruits would boost his state of mind to the Mid Gold Core Realm, which was more than what was required to form his Gold Core. As for the Heart’s Devil which had been haunting him for so long, he planned to cut it in the dream realm under the effects of the Min Luo Fruits. It would be the same like the time where he helped Yun Ruowei!

In fact, he helped Yun Ruowei with no demands at all because he wanted to experience the process of cutting down the Heart’s Devil.

However, the thing that was still holding him back from cutting his own Heart’s Devil was his woman, Zhihe.

Zhihe was his Heart of Dao… If he were to cut his Heart’s Devil, he would lose the feelings he held towards her and became a cold-blooded person!

He was reluctant to become one of those heartless monsters! His goal was to become like his master, the Old Devil – a devil that had feelings!

He placed the nine Min Luo Fruits into his mouth and swallowed!

His eyes turned clear and roared, “I want to form my Gold Core!”

Note :

Measurements :
a. li(里) = 500 m
b. zhang(丈) = 3.13 m
c. chi(尺) = 30.7 cm