Grasping Evil

Engraving the Devil Marks, Earth Controlling Devil Star!

Heaven got divided into four while the earth was split into nine. Thus, there were the Four Heavens and the Nine Worlds.

The Nine Worlds were the cultivation worlds in the mortal world. The strongest among them were the Devil World, the Demon World and the Heaven Immortal World. Next was the Earth Immortal World. The remaining five were the Rain World, the Sword World, the Flame World, the Mountain World and the Tree World. The highest cultivation level a cultivator could achieve in Nine Worlds was the Void Fragmentation Realm. Occasionally, there are cultivators who fail to ascend and become immortals and were known as rogue immortals, rogue demons and rogue devils.

The four heavens consisted of the Mixed Heaven in the North, the Void Heaven in the East, the Brahma Heaven in the West, and the Emperor Heaven in the South. Each of the heavens were governed by a single powerful force and the four of them together were known as the Four Heavens Sect. They shared a government office which allowed those who just newly transcended to hold a post there. The force that was in charge of the Void Heaven was the Godly Void Pavilion while the Lost World Palace was responsible for the Mixed Heaven.

The four forces would usually send some of their descendants to the mortal world for them to temper themselves and gain experience about the world. Aside from that, each and every one of them were able to grant those cultivators with Immemorial Divine or Devil Veins from the mortal world a spot of the Nine Worlds which would not only provide protection to them, but also guarantee their ascension to the Four Heavens. However, the cost that the cultivators had to pay was to join the four forces.

The Four Immortal Heavens were also known as the Broken Immortal World. In fact, they were the substitute for the fallen Ancient Heavenly Court, a place for the cultivators from the mortal world to ascend and become immortals.

The demons from the Demon World would not enter into the Four Heavens. Instead, they would ascend to the Land of Demons which was said to be separated into the Land of the Awakened and the Land of Dreams. However, Stone Warrior did not know the specific details about them.

The devils from the Devil World also would not enter into the Four Heavens. They would go to the Ancient Desolated Devil Pool instead…

These information were all acquired from Stone Warrior. To Ning Fan, it was his first time hearing to it.

“Zhou Ming, if you’re willing to accept a spot in the Nine Worlds from my Lost World Palace, my mistress will help you ascend to the Four Heavens… You should know how difficult it will be to become an immortal after you attain the Void Fragmentation Realm on your own…If you manage to ascend to the Four Heavens, there are the Investiture of the Gods and the Power of Incense Flame to aid you. With them, it’ll be as easy as turning your palm to become a True Immortal…”

“…Let me think about it…”

Ning Fan remained silent.

It sounded really tempting. The memories inherited from Emperor Ancient Chaos only provided guidance up to the Void Fragmentation Realm. They did not mention anything about becoming immortals. That is to say, if Ning Fan attains Void Fragmentation Realm, he would no longer possess uncommon foresight and insight compared to the others relying only on the memories.

His success rate of ascension to become an immortal would be the same with any ordinary cultivators, which was approximately one percent or even less…

With the spot of the Nine Worlds, becoming an immortal was certain. However, Ning Fan was hesitating whether to join the Lost World Palace after he accepts the spot from them… He had yet to make up his mind.

Thinking frankly, he would feel better if he accepts the spot from the Godly Void Pavilion rather than the unruly Bei Xiaoman. After all, the little devil girl that pestered him in the past was not as bad as Bei Xiaoman.

To Ning Fan, ascension to the heavens really was out of his capabilities. However, he was not eager in making the decision now. Whether to accept a spot or not and which force to join were decisions that needed careful considerations. Another thing he wanted to do was to ask the Old Devil to know which heaven he belonged to. At least, they could take care of each other if they are in the same heaven.

“We’ll discuss about this next time. Help me engrave the devil marks first.” Ning Fan replied coldly.

“Fine…” In Stone Warrior’s current situation, he had no power to threaten or force Ning Fan. If the Lost World Palace left a good impression on Ning Fan when he first came to Peng Lai, he would have…

 “The Art of Engraving the Devil Marks originated from the devils of the ‘Stone Carving Tribe’. As for the Art of Spirit Augmentation, it was passed down by the demons of the ‘Spirit Demon Tribe’. I don’t know much about the Spirit Demon Tribe but I do know a thing or two of the Stone Carving Tribe… In ancient times, the members of this tribe were able to carve the Immemorial Divine or Devil Veins within cultivators with just a pin or needle. Hehe. I think I’ve wandered off from what I wanted to say. Regarding the devil marks, only demons or devils with excellent bodies could endure the excruciating pain of the procedure. The Stone Warrior Devil Mark is a devil mark at the soldier rank. The minimum number of lines needed to be drawn on the body is seven while the maximum amount is ninety-nine… It is possible to enhance the devil marks. However, the number of lines that you are able to endure for the first time will decide how much your devil marks will grow. I just want to remind you again that the process will be terrible and agonizing…”

“You’ve been repeating that many times already…”

“No. It’s really painful. With my spiritual puppet body, it almost crumbled when the thirteenth line was drawn, making it impossible for me to get the fourteenth line. Besides, among the descendants of the fiendgods in the Four Heavens, the most outstanding record was 24 lines… It’s because the pain of drawing the marks was not something that a common person could bear. As such, this art is normally used to raise the power of spiritual puppets…”

“Oh? In other words, if I learn how to inscribe the devil marks, I will be able to inscribe them on the refined corpses and spiritual puppets, like my refined corpse, Black Armour. I can even make it attain the Jade Life Body Refining Realm!”

If it was possible, Ning Fan could actually use the ability of his Corpse Devil Vein: Transforming Corpse Technique, to create tons of refined corpses with Jade Life Body Refining Realm. He could lead an army comparable to the body refining realm of Spirit Severing Realm experts to conquer the Rain World!

“That’s impossible! The Art of Engraving the Devil Marks is not simpler than the Art of Spirit Augmentation. Without thousands of years of practice, you won’t be able to master the way of engraving the devil marks above the soldier rank! Even if you’re able to master it anyway, you need to kill hundreds of Nascent Soul Realm experts to form the Secret Blood for just one refined corpse… Moreover, the Art of Devil Marks might not work on the corpses as they do not have consciousness… Can I borrow your ‘Immortal Pin’?”

“Immortal Pin?”

Ning Fan handed over the embroidery pin to Stone Warrior.

“Yes. This is an item that is used by the female immortals of the Ancient Heavenly Court for needlework. If you have the chance to enter the Ruins of the Ancient Heavenly Court, you might be able to find some of these. Using it to inscribe the devil marks is better than the other alternatives… Inscribing the devil marks consists of three steps. Firstly, pierce the body with the pin and draw the marks. Secondly, pour the secret blood on the marks that have been inscribed. Last but not least, is to activate the devil marks…”

Ning Fan took off his shirt. Stone Warrior frowned when he saw Ning Fan’s bony back.

“Your body is weak. I’m afraid you can’t even endure the first seven lines… The pain of drawing the marks is already unbearable. Furthermore, the pain that is caused by the Jade Royal Pill was the nightmare of the fiendgods… Listen to me. Don’t consume the pill when I’m drawing the marks.”

“Don’t worry.”  Obviously, Ning Fan would never tell Stone Warrior the correct way of using the Jade Royal Pill. The only way to relieve the pain rendered by the pill was to endure the same degree of physical pain. In fact, Ning Fan might need to rely on the pills to endure the pain of getting a few more lines.

“Alright… Let’s begin. The first line!”

The pin glittered between Stone Warrior’s fingers. With a jolt of his hand, the pin turned into a three zhang* long pin and swiftly pierced into Ning Fan’s back!

When Stone Warrior controlled the pin using his magic power and brutally drew on his back like drawing a curve on a sketch pad, the pain that Ning Fan felt immediately went up a few more times than before. Under such amount of pain, even Spirit Severing Realm experts would lose their focus and groan in pain.

However, it only made Ning Fan’s brows quiver lightly… The pain was intense but it was not enough to make him cry in pain.

*sucks in cold breath! *

Astonishment filled Stone Warrior. He did not expect that this scrawny young man would have such a strong tolerance to pain!

Among the first six inscriptions, the first was the most tormenting one. It was because any cultivator would be taken by surprise by the first one. After the fifth inscription, the following ones would be even more painful but it was not hard to endure after getting used to the pain.

At least in Stone Warrior’s memories, none of the cultivators or spiritual puppets would remain still like Ning Fan at the first inscription!

Regardless of Ning Fan’s natural aptitude, his ability to endure the pain alone was sufficient to glance at him with indignation.

In fact, Stone Warrior’s eyes were filled with a trace of respect.

Even though he is my enemy, but… he really is a tough man!

If it wasn’t because of the conflict between them earlier, Stone Warrior would want to be his friend…

“Ai… Here comes the second one!”

The second inscription would inflict a little more pain than the first. But Ning Fan did not even move a single muscle on his face because he had already adapted to the pain.

The third inscription, the fourth… up until the sixth, Ning Fan had never frowned. When it came to the seventh inscription, Stone Warrior became nervous.

This will decide the success or failure of the devil marks…

“If you can’t bear the pain, cry out loud…Now, the seventh inscription!”

When the pin landed on his body, his back had a dark tattoo which took the shape of a cloud!

The searing pain of the seventh inscription gathered on his back. This time, his eyes opened wide, his pupils dilated and blue veins surfaced on his neck and forehead!

He clenched his teeth in agony but he still did not cry out in pain!

Not enough! It’s not enough! It’s still a little weaker than the pain of the fourth Jade Royal Pill…

*sucks in cold breath again! *

He did not make a sound after seven inscriptions!

The admiration in Stone Warrior’s eyes grew even stronger. Ning Fan’s tolerance to pain truly was beyond his imagination!

“Just continue drawing… You don’t have to stop!”

“Alright!”

His tolerance is much stronger than my spiritual puppet body. I managed to endure thirteen inscriptions. But I think thirteen inscriptions should not be a problem for him!

Originally, in Stone Warrior’s mind, if Ning Fan began to cry out in pain he would end the process as soon as possible. If Ning Fan could not bear the pain any longer, he would immediately stop the inscription!

But none of his thoughts was right about Ning Fan!

The eighth inscription, the ninth… the thirteenth! It was the maximum lines that Stone Warrior was able to endure in the past. However, Ning Fan was still silent, although his body was covered in sweat!

The fourteenth, the fifteenth… the twenty-fourth! This was the highest achieved by a descendant of a fiendgod… But Ning Fan had yet to request to stop even though his face was pale!

The twenty-fifth, the twenty-sixth… the thirty-first! It would definitely shake the Four Heavens if this incident was known! Being able to endure the thirty-first inscription showed that this Zhou Ming’s mind was as tough as a rock!

Ning Fan’s back now had countless dark clouds and also a mountain peak!

“Alright. I think it’s enough for you…”

“No! It’s not enough! I want to have ninety-nine inscriptions!”

“Don’t mess around! Your body has already reached its limit. If you insist, your body might blow up because of the pain…” Stone Warrior was worried for Ning Fan.

However, the way Stone Warrior changed his demeanor made Ning Fan’s eyes flashed with strangeness.

It was truly weird to be the target of concern from an enemy.

“I think it’s almost time for me to consume the fourth Jade Royal Pill…” Ning Fan’s eyes turned clear and sparkled with determination! He was never afraid to be brutal to his enemies but he too was never afraid to be harsh on himself!

“Show me whether the pain of the devil marks inscription can relieve the pain of the Jade Royal Pill!”

He put the pill in his mouth and swallowed it!