Grasping Evil

All of a sudden, Stone Warrior released a battle intent which sealed off the heaven above.

Aside from that, every movement and activity were also sealed off from them by a barrier created in thin air.

They stood facing each other in the dark sky… As a matter of fact, it was inappropriate for Stone Warrior to reveal himself without Bei Xiaoman’s permission. Furthermore, his existence must not be known by anyone else.

The barrier the Stone Warrior created was not easy to break. Even Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts would find it difficult to break through the barrier and leave.

This technique was commonly used by Spirit Severing Realm experts during battles. For Ning Fan however, it was his first time witnessing this technique.

“I was born to fight!”

His ineloquent speech was as loud as a thunderclap, but it could not be heard by the people outside of the barrier.

Another wave of fearsome battle intent surged within his body. Ever since he was created to become a spiritual puppet, he only had a single mission – to fight!

The battle intent he released was so pure that it could strike fear into the hearts of Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts.

However, when the battle intent was blasted towards Ning Fan, it merely dispersed.

A light rain intent spread to the heavens from Ning Fan’s body. Rain began to fall on Peng Lai Immortal Island!

His rain intent melted away the battle intent of Stone Warrior. However, he intentionally refrained from dissolving the barrier that separated them from the outside.

Stone Warrior was afraid to reveal his existence in front of others. Ning Fan also wanted to secretly capture Stone Warrior. Similarly, both of them wanted to avoid being noticed by others.

“The Divine Intent of Rain. It’s not bad for an ant like you. However, since you’ve hurt Mistress Xiaoman, you have to die!”

“Xiaoman? So her full name is Bei Xiaoman. Her name matches her personality a lot...”  (Xiaoman is 小蛮 in Chinese. Xiao(小) means little; Man(蛮) means rude.)

When Stone Warrior’s words fell, he threw a punch at Ning Fan! All of his strength was concentrated on that punch, carrying a loud powerful sound like an avalanche of snow!

Ning Fan smirked at the incoming punch. The next second, he transformed into a hundred zhang* tall giant and received the blow with his enormous hand that emanated ice aura!

Luo You had a secret art that would be able to subdue the Stone Army. However, it was strenuous for her to cast the secret art with her current condition. She was not able to complete it quickly.

She had been trapped within the Yin Yang Locket for many years now. Her magic power had been mostly absorbed by the Profound Yin World.

Even if she is freed from the Yin Yang Locket in the future, it might take a long period of time for her to fully replenish her magic power.

The technique she needed to use was an art of the Divine Dao known as the Power of Burning Incense.  It was the technique that she would lend to Ning Fan for revenge.

To cast the secret art, Ning Fan had to wait for another three breaths! In the past, when Luo You was in her peak state, she could finish casting this art within one breath.

Therefore, Ning Fan would need to take the punch from the Stone Warrior in one way or another. Moreover, he needed to endure all attacks from Stone Warrior for the next three breaths.

The Stone Warrior’s power sure was beyond Ning Fan’s expectation.                  

In his giant form, his large palm met the punch of Stone Warrior. However, an immense power that could collapse mountain instantly blasted his palm away!

Only then did Ning Fan discover that Stone Warrior’s body refining realm was not at the Silver Bone Realm, but Jade Life Realm instead.

Cultivators with Jade Life Body Refining Realm were able to battle against Spirit Severing Realm experts with just their bodies, let alone withstanding their attacks! Aside from that, Stone Warrior was a Spirit Severing Realm expert himself. Since he did not only cultivate his magic power but also his Body Refining Technique, his combat power reached a really terrifying level!

Fortunately, he did not use any Body Refining Techniques other than sheer force when he threw that punch at Ning Fan. However, after Ning Fan came into contact with the punch, he knew he was in imminent danger!

Although his eyes blinked in surprise, his heart remained still and calm. This time, he released power from his palm and it created layers of ice. Each layer of ice would be able to freeze the surroundings, including Stone Warrior himself! Whenever Stone Warrior was frozen, heaven and earth would tremble, freeing himself from the ice!

After casting the technique which was similar to Ice Smash, Stone Warrior’s attack was not stopped but it was still weakened by half. Ning Fan quickly retreated and slapped in the direction of the punch using his palm that was infused with the power of Ice Smash up to 19 times. After freezing the Stone Warrior for 19 times, Ning Fan successfully warded off the attack!

Just a punch at the level of the Jade Life Body Refining Realm was able to make me struggle!

“So this is the power of the body refining realm above the Silver Bone Realm… He can simply kill a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator without using any of his techniques!”

If Ning Fan displayed all his trump cards, he might not win against Stone Warrior. Instead, he would only have a slim chance of surviving!

He heaved a sigh as he finally understood the gap between him and a Spirit Severing Realm expert. He might be able to fight a Peak Nascent Soul Realm expert as he knew different kinds of techniques, but a Spirit Severing Realm expert was way much stronger than those of the Peak Nascent Soul Realm.

Ning Fan was astounded by Stone Warrior’s strength while the latter was amazed by his techniques.

Stone Warrior originally thought that Ning Fan only possessed ‘mysterious flame techniques’. He did not expect that this frail-looking young man before him would also possess excellent body refining realm!

It’s really rare to have someone achieve Nascent Soul Realm and Silver Bone Body Refining Realm at the age of 340 years old!

Although Stone Warrior threw the punch with only his sheer force, it was more than enough to eliminate a Mid Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. However, Ning Fan managed to ward it off after freezing it for 20 times!

It was something that cultivators who possess Immemorial Divine or Devil Veins could do when they were at the Nascent Soul Realm in the Four Heavens!

“Apparently, both Mistress and I have underestimated you… You’re able to block my attack when you’re only at the Early Nascent Soul Realm. With that kind of results, you could have actually obtained a spot of the Nine Worlds from the Lost World Palace. But it’s a pity that you’ve offended her. This privilege will never belong to you!”

A spot of the Nine Worlds?

Doubts rose within Ning Fan’s heart. However, he did not ask Stone Warrior about it. To him, there were still a lot of things that he was not aware of. But he was not in the mood to learn about them right now.

One breath passed by and now there’s only two breaths left!

Upon witnessing Ning Fan’s abilities, Stone Warrior’s eyes turned serious and solemn. He would no longer show mercy to Ning Fan!

His stone body began to move forward! Each step he made would increase his height by a hundred zhang*. Seven steps later, he became a became seven hundred zhang* tall giant!

Ning Fan’s giant form looked like a midget compared to the man the size of a mountain. He could only nearly reach the calf of Stone Warrior.

Just as Stone Warrior took the form of a giant, a vast amount of magic power began to condense on his hand. Moments later, one of his arms literally transformed into a sword made of boulders!

“Stone Technique, Stone Punch Sword!”

It was a Low Grade Spirit Severing Realm Body Refining Technique!

Ning Fan’s eyes widened in amazement once again. When facing Stone Warrior’s techniques, he felt that his newly formed Nascent Soul was showing signs of breaking apart!

The technique was also a sword of heaven and earth! By turning himself into a mountain, he became the source of the sword’s power and at the same time, he forged the sword using his will!

Seven hundred zhang giant… Spirit Severing Realm Body Refining Technique… This attack is even greater than my sword attack which I used against the Eagle Crane Elder!

Without further hesitation, Ning Fan returned to his original form and summoned the Separation Slayer Sword!

It’s hard to withstand a sword of heaven and earth. The only way to counter it is through another sword attack!

He held the sword with his left hand, pointing the edge to the mountain man and drew a circular ring in mid-air. As he drew it, it gathered an immeasurable amount of sword qi! Meanwhile, he raised his right finger which gave out a sword light to make use of the power of the mountains!

The mountain man could see that Ning Fan was drawing something with his sword in the air. Just as Ning Fan finished drawing the circle, the mountain man felt something piercing through his chest. Cracks began to form on the surface of his heart which was made of stone! Right after his heart cracked, he could hear the sound of slashing swords within his body. Within seconds, the swords dispersed from his body like thousands of fine threads, breaking him apart!

This was the Fourth Sword of the Four Swords of the Nascent Soul… He had yet to modify this technique… Heart Drawing Sword! This technique itself was already at the Peak Nascent Soul Realm. Even if a Spirit Severing Realm expert was attacked by this technique, they would definitely suffer injuries, starting from their heart to their entire body as the swords would cut their way out of their body!

As he pointed his right finger towards the mountain man, the sound of collapsing mountains echoed in the sky. The body of the giant began to crumble and shatter into pieces.

The more the mountain crumbled, the sharper the sword light on Ning Fan’s finger! It was the Art of Sword Finger, First Finger: Mountain Crush! The power of this sword finger originated from the mountains! As such, it could restrain Stone Warrior who turned himself into a giant that had a body of a mountain!

The two attacks stunned Stone Warrior, making him hesitate his next move. At the same time, the power of his Stone Punch Sword slowly disappeared. To his surprise, a Spirit Severing Realm expert like him suffered some injuries from his foe’s attacks.

Even though the injuries were not serious, Stone Warrior’s expression turned gloomy. To him, it’s absolutely unacceptable to be hurt by a mere Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. If others knew about it, it would surely shock everyone in the External Endless Sea. In the past, no one, including Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts, could leave a scratch on Spirit Severing Realm experts.

As for Ning Fan, he did not feel proud of himself. Sword Finger and the Four Swords of the Nascent Soul were his best trump cards. However, they could only leave a few scratches on Stone Warrior…

Spirit Severing Realm experts sure are formidable…

It was now the final breath before Luo You completes the secret art!

Deep inside, Stone Warrior was shocked to the core by Ning Fan’s impressive display.

This tiny cultivator really has a lot of powerful techniques. If I’m not wrong, the Sword Finger and the Four Swords of the Nascent Soul are techniques belonging to the Sword World… The Sword World is nothing as compared to the Four Heavens. However, he’s truly exceptional since he was able to obtain the secret arts of the Sword World while he’s just a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator in the Rain World.

Ning Fan’s abilities was beyond his imagination. If he knew about Ning Fan’s capabilities earlier, he would have advised Bei Xiaoman to rope him in and grant him a spot of the Nine Worlds. Having an extraordinary cultivator like Ning Fan was still better than having nothing. Unfortunately, they were both enemies now. It would be even more difficult to stop the fight and persuade Ning Fan to join the Lost World Palace.

This man had hurt the Mistress after all. It would be impossible to ask him to join the Lost World Palace now!

Ever since Stone Warrior was born, protecting Bei Xiaoman had been his top priority aside from engaging enemies in battle!

To him, anyone who hurt Bei Xiaoman would be his enemy!

“No matter how many techniques you possess, you’re still an ant of the mortal world. You must know that there are countless people like you in the Four Heavens!”

The size of the mountain body shrank into the original body made of rocks with some moss growing on its surface. The next moment, a red light emerged and revolved around his body of rocks!

“I’m the servant of Mistress Xiaoman. Our minds are interconnected. As such, I was granted a trace of the Gui Star’s Killing Intent… This technique is the divine ability of Gui Veins! With this technique, I once eliminated a Spirit Severing Realm expert… You won’t be able to endure it! This is the end for you! Gui Technique, Seven Kills!”

One of his fingers was raised and seven crimson-red stars appeared in the night sky one after one another!

The seven stars were connected. They unleashed their power and formed seven rays of blood light falling from the sky. The blood light was faint like luminescent fireflies. But when Ning Fan saw them, he felt chills on his spine!

He felt as if he would perish into ashes by just touching any one of them!

Note :

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