Grasping Evil

“So, if Fellow Daoist Zhou has finally decided, just search for me in the ‘Blissful Summit’. As for this item, it’s a keepsake from this old man. If you ever meet troublesome cultivators in this island, just show it to them…I’ll wait for your answer after three days!”

Xu Rushan cupped his fist towards Ning Fan and heaved a light sigh before he left.

In the end, Ning Fan still did not promise to help him. To Xu Rushan, such prudent attitude in handling important matters was praiseworthy. However, after exchanging a few words with him, he felt helpless at how Ning Fan tried to evade responsibility.

Now, the only option he was left with was to wait. He had to wait for Ning Fan to give his word.

Before he comes, I shall inform the elders of the All Pleasure Sect and tell them to make some preparations to cordially treat him.

The black primordial energy shook and Xu Rushan vanished into a cloud of smoke and travelled for more than ten thousands of li away in just an instance.

That was an ability of a Spirit Severing Realm expert – Instant Shift. With that technique, a Spirit Severing Realm expert could travel tens of thousands of li in just a second! It was multiple times faster than teleportation!

Ning Fan held a black jade that Xu Rushan handed to him in his hand in silence.

This is truly a big deal. It will be unwise to make a promise out of recklessness…

Even if he was willing to promise to undertake the task, he would want to wait for another three days. The reason he did not make a decision on the spot was because he wanted to maximize the benefits he could get from helping him. To him, 50 drops of Profound Liquid of Mother Earth was too insignificant to be the extra compensation for such a dangerous task. Ning Fan wanted to find out what Xu Rushan’s bottom line was  to stay on friendly terms with him.

After a while, he kept the token and held the arm of the female corpse, disappearing into a flash of black light. He was heading towards the Joint Joyous Immortal Island.

In the Pleasure Devil Seas, there were tens of uninhabited islands. Whenever he passed by any of them, he would keep them into the Yuan Yao World without any hesitation. Thus, it took him quite a while to reach his destination.

At the time he arrived at the Joint Joyous Immortal Island, Yu Long, who had already found a good dwelling place for the female cultivators of Bi Yao Sect to rest, was standing outside of the island, respectfully awaiting Ning Fan’s arrival.

“Greetings to my respected Master!” Yu Long’s attitude was rather courteous.

He was once a Feudal Ranking Elder of the Pleasure Devil Sect but he was given the cold shoulder by the members of the sect. It was why he decided to leave for Peng Lai Immortal Island and joined the Lost World Palace.

To his surprise, when he came to the Joint Joyous Island this time, he was immediately welcomed by a bunch of old monsters including the vice sect master of the sect as soon as he set foot on the island!

Actually it was Xu Rushan’s instructions. Even though Yu Long did not know why the other party was so polite to him, it was not hard for him to guess that they were trying to please his master – Zhou Ming. However, he was not concerned about what the reason behind it was. Instead, the admiration and respect he had towards his master gradually grew deeper in his heart.

Moreover, all the female cultivators who followed him were arranged to stay in the most luxurious palace on the island – Profound Jade Palace!

If he was not Zhou Ming’s servant, he, Yu Long, would never be able to receive such preferential treatment… This palace was known to only accommodate Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts!

“En… Have you found a place for the female cultivators to rest? Besides, how are they doing now?” Ning Fan asked in a solemn tone.

“Reporting to Master, the female cultivators have settled down well. They are currently resting at the Profound Jade Palace. Does Master want to rest or take a stroll within this island?”

“Profound Jade Palace… This palace was said to only be inhabited by Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts… Xu Rushan is really attentive. But a mere courtesy like that is not enough to make me feel touched…” Ning Fan muttered in his heart. He then took out an empty jade slip and imprinted his spirit sense on it before giving it to Yu Long.

“This jade slip contains the seventeen types of ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs that I need. Go to the pharmacy in the island to buy them for me. I am going to need two sets for each of them. As for me, I will take a tour of this island. Afterwards, I will return to the Profound Jade Palace.”

“Ten-thousand-year-old? Yes!” Yu Long sealed his mouth from asking the reason for needing so much spiritual herbs. But he did not leave after receiving the jade slip from Ning Fan.

Ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs were uncommon. Each of them would at least need tens of thousands of immortal jade. The price would even go up to hundreds of thousands of immortal jade for the rare kinds of spiritual herbs.

He, Yu Long, was just a mere Third Revolution Pill Master whose cultivation realm was at the Early Nascent Soul Realm. He did not have a lot of wealth like Ning Fan to purchase spiritual herbs which might cost a fortune.

He was waiting for Ning Fan to pay him…

“Why are you still here? Are you trying to disobey me?!”

“No, Master! This old servant does not have the courage! However… Master… buying things… need money ah. This old servant…does not have so much money…”

“Well, you can go directly to the pharmacy which is run by the subordinates of the Pleasure Devil Sect. I guess they would probably not dare to ignore your request.”

“Wha…What? Master wants this old servant to buy spiritual herbs empty-handed? But…But… this is the territory of Pleasure Devil Sect ah. It is a sect that has a Spirit Severing Realm guardian. Master’s reputation might be strong, but isn’t it a little inappropriate to rob them of spiritual herbs…” Yu Long’s body trembled in fear. He did not dare to disobey Ning Fan’s order but he was also afraid to grab the spiritual herbs without paying in the territory of one of the top ten sects.

“Take this jade with you. I assure you that you will be alright!” Ning Fan impatiently frowned and took out the black jade from the storage pouch.

When Yu Long heard Ning Fan’s words, he was stunned and inwardly curious about what kind of jade that would enable him to ask for free spiritual herbs without getting himself into trouble…

However, as his eyes caught sight of the black jade, his body jolted and his eyes widened in disbelief.

“This…This is…There’s no mistake… It really is the ‘Ancestor Token’ of the Pleasure Devil Sect! It’s the token of Senior Xu Rushan! Why did Master have it?”

“Don’t ask anything that you shouldn’t!”

“Yes!”

Yu Long quickly cupped his fists and left as he was afraid to anger Ning Fan.

However, the degree of admiration towards Ning Fan in his heart rose to its peak.

With that token, it would not be difficult for him to obtain tens of ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs from the pharmacy! But what he could not understand was why this item would be in his Master’s hands.

Xu Rushan was rumored to be unsociable and eccentric. He never associated himself with any cultivators from the External Endless Sea let alone pass his token to others. In spite of that, his Master managed to get it from Xu Rushan. In other words, no matter what his Master does in the island, as long as he does not behave excessively, he would be protected by Xu Rushan!

Making a Spirit Severing Realm old monster to take the initiative in pleasing him…My Master is truly exceptional ah! Being able to follow such a master is really not a bad thing after all. Instead, it is an excellent and fortunate thing!

Yu Long’s heart was filled with immense excitement when he left for the city on the island with the black jade.

Ning Fan gently pinched the skin of the female corpse and his eyes fixed her hands and pondered.

The seventeen types of ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs were actually required for cultivating a Fifth Revolution Pill – Facial Restoration Pill to restore the appearance of the two demonesses…

Instructing Yu Long to ask for spiritual herbs was actually his method to test the bottom line of Xu Rushan. He wanted to see to what extent this person would fulfill his demands.

He could help Xu Rushan but the latter must give him enough benefits!

A life of at least 150 Wild Beasts was not something that could be compensated with just 50 drops of the Profound Liquid of Mother Earth!

Besides, since Xu Rushan was in a state of anxiety, if Ning Fan did not ask for a higher and greater rewards from him, he would be regarded as a fool.

Show me all your pills, magical treasures, immortal jade and even… the Profound Heart of Mother Earth!

For the Profound Core of Mother Earth, for the hope of attaining the Spirit Severing Realm…it’s worth it for me to take the risk. It’s not impossible to kill 150 Wild Beasts after all!

For the moment, let’s see whether Yu Long is able to bring me the herbs smoothly. It will tell me Xu Rushan’s attitude. There are 3 more days to go… 3 days later, only then will I give my answer!

Now, let me roam around this island first.

Joint Joyous Immortal Island belonged to the Pleasure Devil Sect. This island could be considered as a small floating island as its ground was not even seventy thousand li* large. From the surface, it did not look like the territory of one of the top ten sects at all.

But this island had one uniqueness. The entire island was formed by uncommon spiritual minerals!

It was densely covered by mountains of minerals. There was an abundance of gold-element spiritual energy. Cultivating gold-element cultivation method here would be twice as fast as cultivating at Peng Lai.

The Pleasure Devil Seas were famous for its spiritual minerals. Furthermore, the treasures and weapons made here had higher quality compared to other places in the External Endless Sea. In addition, there were quite a lot of rare spiritual irons that could be found here. It has been rumored to occasionally produce spiritual iron at the level of Mortal Void Realm. As for the auction of Peak Nascent Soul Realm cauldrons, it would also sometimes auction spiritual armors at Profound Earth Grade.

The external part of the island occupied one-third of the entire island. It was a place for the foreign cultivators to stop for a rest. As for the internal part of the island, it was the place for the disciples of the Pleasure Devil Sect to stay and cultivate.

On the external part of the island, there were thousands of shops in total, forming a dozen large markets.

Cultivators who came for the auction and the Secret Realm of the Broken World entered the island in a continuous stream of people.

Bathing himself in the sea breeze, he held the female corpse who was more obedient now as compared in the past to linger around the markets.

Among the crowd, most of them were Gold Core Realm cultivators. It was extremely rare to see a Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivator on the streets. However, there were some cultivators at the Vein Opening Realm who came to this island with their seniors to explore.

Both sides of the streets were full of stalls set up by rogue cultivators.

Setting up a temporary stall on the street would only need 10 immortal jade to obtain the approval from the authorities.

“Mid-Grade Pill Cauldron. It is for refining pills below Third Revolution and it’s only sold for 600 immortal jade!”

“Bitter Spiritual Pill. 20 pills in a bottle. 800 immortal jade! Harmonious Spirit Realm Fellow Daoist, come and have a look!”

“Mid-Grade Flying Sword. 200 immortal jade…Er, although it was damaged a little, it is still good enough to use…”

The noisy hawking in the market made Ning Fan forget the bloodbath and also his cultivation realms. It brought back the memories of his childhood when he was still a mortal.

Ten years in the real world were Ning Fan’s three hundred years… Three hundred years… It was enough to make a lot of things fade from his memories.

As the sea breeze gently blew, he spread his spirit sense. Every person, every action and every movement were in his mind.

A sixteen-year-old mortal boy… 2 years of warmth in Yue Country… 300 years of a lonely journey in the cultivation world… He reminisced them all in his heart.

Throughout the journey, he felt that his destiny was being manipulated in the dark.

However, he chose to defy his fate every single time. He was reluctant to see his own master die. He was reluctant to have Ning City destroyed. He was reluctant to allow Suqiu to die in an accident. He was reluctant to cut off Zhihe...

He was not a person who favored killing. If he has the capability, he would rather choose to rewind time and stay forever at Seven Apricot City.

However, if he did not go through what he had in the past, he would not have gotten to where he has today. He would not have felt the warmth in his life.

His hand clutched the female corpse’s and he stood in the middle of the crowd with his eyes closed.

Unknowingly, his state of mind was gradually rising!

The Mid Nascent Soul Realm state of mind was quickly approaching the Late Nascent Soul Realm!

It’s just a hair’s breadth away… It just needs another enlightenment!

Ning Fan was inwardly astonished as he did not expect that his state of mind would increase at this moment and it was going to break through to the Late Nascent Soul Realm!

But it stopped as if he lacked something. No matter what, he could not feel the bottleneck of the next small cultivation realm for his state of mind…

“What am I lacking? What is it?!”

Sweat dampened the hand he used to hold the female corpse. His eyes reflected his anxiety and worries.

The black snow from the sky, the magnetic force of the surroundings and the faint sea mist that filled the air… everything seemed to make him feel even more upset.

His mind recollected every bloody scene he experienced, nearly driving him insane!

All of a sudden, a voice which resembled the Heavenly Dao echoed in his heart and questioned him!

“The path of devils is boundless. Just repent and salvation is at your hands…”

Repent? How to repent?

What is going to happen if I don’t?

Ning Fan opened his eyes but this time, they were filled with emptiness as if his soul was consumed by his Heart’s Devil.

But at this moment, the worried female corpse stretched her hand and stroked Ning Fan’s face. A stuttering but gentle voice rang in his ears.

Note :

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