Grasping Evil

Moreover, Ning Fan caught a whiff of devil qi from the jade slip. Even though the qi was faint, it nearly caused his Nascent Soul to collapse.

Such tremendous devil qi… The expert who imprinted this jade slip must be unimaginably powerful.

Among all the cultivators he had seen in the External Endless Sea, he had yet to meet anyone with such heaven-shockingly powerful devil qi.

He did not immediately took the jade slip. Instead, he gently shook his head as he knew that it must be related to something rather significant.

If he reads it, he would have to promise to do Xu Rushan’s request no matter what.

“I think it’s better that Senior gives me a brief idea of the matter. If it is something important, I don’t dare to act rashly.”

“Oh? Fellow Daoist sure is a very cautious person. You’re clearly a person that can be entrusted with an important matter…Hai. Let me be frank with you. It is actually similar to your expectation as it truly is related to the Secret Realm of the Broken World. In fact, it is just hunting Wild Beasts and gathering their Demon Pills. However, …hai… the number of Demon Pills needed is a little… a little too many. Moreover, the deadline for the task is approaching fast…”

“Number? Deadline?” Ning Fan muttered to himself.

If he just wants to request my help in gathering Demon Pills of Wild Beasts, it would be unnecessary for him to behave in that manner. I wonder how large the number he needs that it was able to make him lose his composure.

“The Secret Realm of the Broken World only opens once in every fifty years. Every time it opens, only forty cultivators are allowed to enter and it will stay open for one year for cultivators to enter the world and accumulate the Demon Pills of Wild Beasts. But this time, because of the urgency in the completion of the task, the place was forcefully activated half a year in advance. Therefore, the Secret Realm is not as stable as usual and it can only last for half a year… Within such a short duration, I must gather… 200 Demon Pills of Wild Beasts. Let me be bold and ask you a question, does Fellow Daoist have enough confidence to kill 200 Wild Beasts within half a year?”

“200 Demon Pills in half a year? Senior Xu thinks too highly of junior.”

Ning Fan’s eyes flashed in a color of surprise.

It’s out of my expectations that this Xu Rushan would be begging for my help. Killing 200 Wild Beasts in just half a year… That is to say, once I enter into the Secret Realm, I need to at least kill a lot of Wild Beasts which have power comparable to a Spirit Severing Realm expert… I’m afraid killing one per day would not suffice…

Killing two hundred Spirit Severing Realm experts… If Ning Fan had such power, he would have already conquered the entire Internal Endless Sea. If he is that strong, he would not have needed to explore the Secret Realm of the Broken World.

Ning Fan stood in silence without saying yes or no. As for Xu Rushan, he began to feel a little impatient.

He had witnessed Ning Fan’s power. The latter could even make him feel a feeling of danger. There was no one below the Spirit Severing Realm that was at his level.

Every Peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivator who were capable of killing a single Wild Beast in the Secret Realm were considered as strong experts. In the past, the most Xu Rushan could get from tens of Peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivators were just a dozen Demon Pills.

But this time, he must gather 200 Demon Pills without any excuses. Otherwise, his head would fall.

Other than Ning Fan, he really did not have any hope on anyone else. He felt that even the other Peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, including those descendants of the Venerated Seven of the Internal Endless Sea could not rival Ning Fan.

As a Spirit Severing Realm expert as well as the trusted follower of Venerated Giant who was one of the Venerated Seven, Xu Rushan rarely lowered his head down to others. However, today was the first time in his life where he put up a smiling face in order to please someone.

“Hehe. Fellow Daoist Zhou, if you help me this time, I will owe you a big favor. If you meet difficulties in the future, I will definitely aid you even though I have to go through a mountain of swords and a sea of flames. To validate my promise, I will swear the Great Oath of Heart’s Devil after you accomplish the task. Moreover, the Venerated Giant will show favoritism towards you. The next time you enter the Internal Endless Sea, you will have a powerful force backing you. Of course, if killing 200 Wild Beasts is difficult for you, I will search for others to reduce your burden. But Fellow Daoist has to at least gather 10 of the pills. Other than exchanging one drop the Profound Liquid of Mother Earth for each of the pills, this old man will give you another 50 drops of the liquid in extra. Try to imagine if Fellow Daoist collects 200 Demon Pills… You will gain a total of 2500 units of magic power. With that amount of magic power, it will be easy for you to attain the Peak Nascent Soul Realm.”

“…”

Ning Fan did not utter a single word. But his eyes seemed to blaze with fire.

He wanted to think over this matter in a more thorough manner. Xu Rushan might be humble when he was begging him, but he could not imagine what would happen if he failed to fulfill his promise. He was afraid that Xu Rushan might go mad and vent out his anger on him.

200 Wild Beasts… Even though it is reduced to only 10 of them, it’s still not a trivial task.

Although those Wild Beasts were not exactly comparable to genuine ones were not difficult to kill if Ning Fan approaches them one by one, but who knows whether the beasts moved alone or stayed in groups…

Perhaps he might find beasts which were left out by their groups, but there was still a possibility that he would have to face groups of beasts if he really wants to kill 200 of them. Just by thinking of the scene where he had to fight against a group of beasts with each of them having power comparable to a Spirit Severing Realm expert was enough to make his scalp go numb.

It would be much easier if I can bring in Stone Warrior and the female corpse… Unfortunately, no Spirit Severing Realm experts are allowed to enter… It seems I can only rely on myself.

So, should I promise him or reject it?

If I reject his offer, I am going to miss the opportunity to obtain more than 200 drops of the Profound Liquid of Mother Earth.

200 drops of that liquid is equivalent to 2000 units of magic power. If I complete this task, I would have finished one fifth of the journey in attaining Spirit Severing Realm.

As for the favor that Xu Rushan’s owe him… Truth to be told, Ning Fan did not really feel anything precious about having an Early Spirit Severing expert owe him a favor.

While Ning Fan was deep in contemplation, the female corpse was quietly holding the corner of his sleeve. But Xu Rushan was extremely nervous.

It would be a dream come true if I can enter the Secret Realm. Killing the Fake Wild Beasts is a piece of cake. Unfortunately, Spirit Severing Realm experts like me are forbidden to enter…

It was so rare to have a “monster” like Ning Fan that had heaven-defying combat power in the Endless Sea after thousands of years. Other than him, Xu Rushan had no confidence in anyone else…

Xu Rushan was one of the top thirteen Spirit Severing Realm experts in the External Endless Sea. However, Venerated Giant could eradicate an outstanding being like him by just moving a single finger.

“Junior needs to understand the habits, power and techniques of the Wild Beasts. Only then could I assure you whether I have the capability of killing 200 Wild Beasts. But before that, I intend to read Senior Xu’s jade slip. Of course, after I have read it, I can’t guarantee that I will promise to help you. Therefore, it’s Senior Xu’s decision whether to let me see the jade slip.”

Xu Rushan’s face abnormally twitched.

This Zhou Ming is truly not simple.

However, if he placed himself in Ning Fan’s shoes, he would be even more cautious and contemplative than the latter.

“Take it. Remember, never leak any of the content within the jade slip. Otherwise, this old man will hunt you down to the most remote corners of the globe, even if you are already a Spirit Severing Realm expert.”

“Don’t worry Senior. My mouth is very reliable…Hmm… The spirit sense within is tremendous…”

When Ning Fan pressed the jade slip against his forehead, his eyes turned clear.

The moment he spread his spirit sense to study the jade slip, a vigorous spirit sense with unparalleled power gushed towards him.

There was a domineering black Divine Intent within this spirit sense. It was ferocious and strong. When it appeared, Ning Fan’s Nascent Soul almost shattered. He felt that his spirit became weak as if his heart was suppressed by Mount Tai.

He retreated a few steps and the blood and qi on his chest were in chaos. However, not even retreating could relieve him from the effects of the vigorous Divine Intent. Without hesitation, the Divine Intent of Rain flashed in his eyes. In just a blink of an eye, the black snow stopped and light rain fell from the sky within a vicinity of a thousand li*. Ning Fan regained his balance.

The Divine Intent of Rain?

Xu Rushan narrowed his eyes.

At the eighth step, Ning Fan used the Divine Intent of Rain to ward off the domineering Divine Intent within the spirit sense.

Xu Rushan could not imagine that Ning Fan who had yet to attain Spirit Severing Realm had congealed his own Divine Intent.

Besides, he only retreated for eight steps when he faced the mighty Divine Intent of Venerated Giant. During the first time Xu Rushan touched the jade slip, he was frightened by the fierce Divine Intent of Venerated Giant and retreated seven steps. That time, he had actually applied his spirit sense to defend himself before touching the jade slip.

This person really is unfathomable… If he spread his spirit sense before he touched the jade slip, I suppose he would not have to retreat for more than three steps.

In the past, Xu Rushan would have wanted to dissect Ning Fan and find out the secrets of the latter’s power.

Currently, however, he earnestly hoped that it was better the stronger Ning Fan was. If the latter was strong, the task would most likely be completed without fail.

He stood aside silently while waiting for Ning Fan to read the jade slip.

As for Ning Fan, he knitted his brows as his mind got into the jade slip.

The expert who imprinted the jade slip was the person with the domineering Divine Intent. He was Giant Qing, the Venerated Giant of the Giant Devil Sect.

The first sentence Ning Fan heard from the jade slip was a harsh remark.

“Little Shan, this old man gives you only half a year! Within this period, if you are unable to gather 200 Demon Pills to save my daughter, Little Xueyan, I will personally crush your head to pieces!”

Feng Xueyan. She was the daughter of Venerated Giant. She had an acute disease and Demon Pills were urgently needed to save her life.

Before her condition worsened this time, she would need at least 200 of those pills.

Venerated Giant had given an order to Xu Rushan. If Xu Rushan failed to execute the order, he would have to prepare to be decapitated…

Note :

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