Grasping Evil

“The old ancestor of the Profound Virtue Sect has already given a statement that anyone who provokes Zhou Ming would be on their own. Since he’s not going to oppose Zhou Ming, why should I?”

Those who could attain the Spirit Severing Realm and regarded as venerated beings in the External Endless Sea were no fools.

In actual reality, there was still one more reason that made him attack Ning Fan.

Xu Rushan requested him to test Ning Fan’s capability!

As the female corpse noticed that Yan Zhongze was going to strike Ning Fan, a faint light flashed within her eyes and thought of dashing towards the expert. But her actions were stopped by Ning Fan.

This palm, Ning Fan wanted to take it on himself!

He wanted to see how big the gap was in power between him and a Spirit Severing Realm expert!

“Ice Smash!”

When he threw his punch at the expert, heaven and earth shook but it did not freeze!

As the punch struck Yan Zhongze’s palm, the force of his punch diminished like a clay ox entering the sea. Although he managed to offset the force of the incoming palm which only constituted thirty percent of Yan Zhongze’s total force, Ning Fan still could not completely crush the latter’s attack even if he gave his all in that punch.

Ning Fan was inwardly astonished.

Spirit Severing Realm Body Refining Techniques are truly exceptional. My Nascent Soul Realm Body Refining Technique – Ice Smash has no effect on experts at the Spirit Severing Realm.

A feeling of contempt surged within Yan Zhongze’s heart.

Xu Rushan seems to have overpraised this child…

He said that my life would be in danger if I stay within a vicinity of ten zhang* from him. What is he talking about? I don’t feel anything at all even though we exchanged blows at a close distance…

Besides, this kid’s all-out strike was just enough to offset thirty percent of the total might of my attack…Although it would be sufficient for him to be recognized as the strongest person below the Spirit Severing Realm, he is still far too weak compared to Spirit Severing Realm experts.

However, the next second, all his bad-mouthing turned into an urge to curse someone’s mother.

“How…How is this possible? Wait. This…This is…”

The Earth Controlling Devil Star on Ning Fan’s right eye glittered. A jet of evil intent entered into Yan Zhongze’s body when they exchanged blows earlier.

Ning Fan did not plan to use his Yuan Yao World to capture Yan Zhongze. Otherwise, he would really have thirty percent chance to kill the latter as they were so close to each other!

Since this person did not hold a trace of hostility to Ning Fan, he did not have the need to do so…

However, it did not mean that he could give him the impression of weakness! Because Xu Rushan was watching him!

“Evil intent?!”

It caught Yan Zhongze off guard. Then, the Earth Controlling Star seemed to have formed a starry vortex on Ning Fan’s right eye. Immediately, the evil intent which entered into Yan Zhongze’s body was activated, transforming into endless Heart’s Devil, troubling him. The color of his face alternated from green and red. In a panic, he hurriedly distanced himself from Ning Fan and travelled away in the form of clouds. In a flash, he returned to the sky. However, just as he stood beside Zhuo Tong, the blood and qi within his body was in chaos. With aggression in his eyes, he banged his chest with a punch. His action instantly weakened much of his aura but only then was he able to expel a mouthful of black-colored blood which was stained with evil intent…

“The evil intent of Heart’s Devil!”

Yan Zhongze stared at Ning Fan with uneasiness while Zhuo Tong felt a tingling sensation on his scalp… The strength of Ning Fan’s punch was ordinary, but he managed to infuse the evil intent of Heart’s Devil within it…This…As such, who else dared to have body contact with him?!

Luckily, the evil intent he had was not much as he just began to collect and condense them. Or else, the evil intent would have crushed Yan Zhongze’s Heart of Dao, critically injuring him!

This kid’s technique is truly heaven-defying! The evil intent of Heart’s Devil… Is that even something that can be controlled and used by cultivators as an offensive technique?!

It’s no wonder Xu Rushan is profusely praising him… He must not be belittled…

The onlookers were all flabbergasted when they noticed that it was the Spirit Severing Realm old ancestor who spurted out blood after their confrontation.

So this is the power of the strongest man below the Spirit Severing Realm…

Wang Yun gulped. He clearly knew that if he were to be the person who faced the palm, his body would’ve been pulverized or severely injured. However, he did not know that the palm constituted only a portion of Yan Zhongze’s full strength!

Somewhere in the dark, Xu Rushan nodded his head in contentment.

Though it is just thirty percent of its total might, not only could he offset Yan Zhongze’s attack but also counterattack his enemy with evil intent. It seems that his power is above my expectations. It’s worth it to befriend him!

“Little friend, you are already an extraordinary cultivator since you can take Yan Zhongze’s attack head on. As such, if I do my best to assist you with pills, magical treasures and spiritual equipment, it would not be hard for you to kill 150 Wild Beasts when you enter the Secret Realm of the Broken World!”

“Pills, magical treasures, spiritual equipment…”

Ning Fan had to retreat seven steps consecutively before he could regain his balance from the gentle force of Yan Zhongze’s palm attack earlier. Even though he did not suffer any injuries, his face did not look good.

The difference between genuine Jade Life Body Refining Realm and Half-Step Jade Life Body Refining Realm is vast like the distance between heaven and earth!

Besides, my body refining technique is still at the Nascent Soul Realm. It’s still too much weaker than Spirit Severing Realm Body Refining Techniques.

My current body refining technique only allows me to withstand thirty percent of Yan Zhongze’s full power. That evil intent is just an act of trickery.

The evil intent was condensed after I studied Milian’s magical techniques. Now, I only have 11 traces of them… The power of 11 traces of evil intent is equivalent to 11 units of magic power. Although it was enough to breed a Heart’s Devil in Yan Zhongze’s heart and even forced him to hurt himself to expel the evil intent, it was still not enough for him to use it to kill his enemies!

If Ning Fan had ten thousand traces of evil intent, he would be able to cause distress to Yan Zhongze’s mind with just a look! Also, with such an amount of evil intent, he would be able to rival a Spirit Severing Realm expert in terms of devil qi!

If he condensed fifty thousand traces of evil intent, he could even take down a Mid Spirit Severing Realm expert!

If he possessed one hundred and fifty thousand of them, he wouldn’t have to fear facing against Late Spirit Severing Realm experts!

If he had one million traces of evil intent, he would acquire power equivalent to that of a Void Refinement Realm expert!

But for now, it was too insignificant. With just 11 traces of evil intent, it was only capable of being a means to trick his enemies and Ning Fan never liked such underhanded tactics!

He could not accept the fact that he could only take thirty percent of Yan Zhongze’s total power!

“Pills, magical treasures, spiritual equipment…They are not enough! I want the Profound Heart of Mother Earth!” His eyes turned clear and were filled with determination as he told Xu Rushan through telepathy.

“The Profound Heart of Mother Earth? This item is incomparably precious. With your current strength, you aren’t qualified enough for this old man to give you this item.” Xu Rushan frowned.

“How much is enough?!”

“Five palms! Yan Zhongze’s strongest technique is the Compounded Palm Forces. If you are able to withstand the combined force of his five palms, I promise you that I will give you the Profound Heart of Mother Earth! However, I believe it is beyond your capability since you can’t even withstand one of his full palm attacks!

“Fine! Five palms! Bring it on!”

Other than Zhuo Tong and Yan Zhongze whom Ning Fan purposely made the telepathy easily accessible, none of the Nascent Souls at the scene knew what they were up to!

Yan Zhongze knitted his brows like Xu Rushan and indifferently stared at Ning Fan.

“Little friend Zhou, it is true that one has to press forward with indomitable will and courage, however, the stiffest tree is the most easily cracked. At the end of the day, you aren’t a Spirit Severing Realm expert. It would be impossible for you to withstand five of my palms!”

“How would you know without letting me try it?!” Ning Fan lifted his face and gazed upon the sky. His long hair danced in the air and a fearsome fighting spirit surged within him.

I understand now… It is an undeniable fact that my punch is weaker than Yan Zhongze’s palm. But my Nascent Soul Realm Body Refining Technique - Ice Smash and Half-Step Jade Life Body Refining Realm are not the reasons at all!

The true reason is because my punch lacks Divine Intent!

The reason why my body refining realm is stagnant at the Half-Step Jade Life Realm is because the Jade Life Realm is similar to the Spirit Severing Realm. Once a cultivator reaches this level, he must congeal his own Divine Intent!

Ning Fan himself had already comprehended the Divine Intent of Rain. However, that was too soft in nature and unsuitable to his firm and strong punch.

Besides, Yan Zhongze’s Divine Intent was the cloud and rain was inferior to it as clouds came before the rain. Naturally, Ning Fan’s divine intent could not compare with Yan Zhongze’s.

In his right eye, the devil star rotated!

On his back, the devil marks flickered!

A monstrous devil prestige converged within his body!

“In my whole life, I never yielded to anyone, be it Emperor Moksha, the Bone Sovereign, the White Demon Sect, the mysterious True Immortal… if I imbue this unyielding spirit into my punch and form my second Divine Intent, I would then be able to fight against Yan Zhongze! Moreover, I will be able to attain the Jade Life Realm itself today!”

The cold light in his eyes dispersed and was replaced by an immense battle intent!

Yan Zhongze felt shocked for the first time as he saw the look on Ning Fan’s face!

“This kid wants to comprehend the bottleneck of the Jade Life Realm through resisting my attack! There is a surge of Divine Intent slowly congealing in his body… Furthermore, this Divine Intent is rather unusual…”

His eyes turned serious. With a wave of his sleeve, he summoned gusts of strong wind that blew all the Nascent Soul Real experts of the other six sects thousands of li* away!

He touched on a piece of cloud and completely sealed the vicinity of a thousand zhang* within with his magic power!

Afterwards, he turned towards Ning Fan with a solemn expression!

Usually, experts would congeal their Divine Intent by taking inspiration from other living things like flowers, birds, insects, fish and others or discover their concepts from the five elements of heaven and earth. Despite the diversity in the types of Divine Intent, one had to fuse it into his Heart of Dao.

Clouds were ethereal. Therefore, he was elusive.

Clouds were unpredictable. Therefore, he had a strange character.

Clouds were soft and tender. Therefore, he could bend but he would not crack.

He, Yan Zhongze, was just like a piece of cloud that would adapt himself to circumstances.

However, currently, the Ning Fan he saw was like a gigantic mountain with a heaven-piercing summit which emanated devil qi that soared high up into the sky! It completely portrayed his spirit of being unwilling to concede defeat!

Ning Fan’s battle intent was unyielding! Not even heaven and earth could make this person submit!

The current Ning Fan was able to make Yan Zhongze feel oppressed with just his unyielding battle intent. If he manages to congeal a new battle intent, regardless of its type, he would be able to put up a fight against Yan Zhongze!

Xu Rushan revealed himself and exchanged glances with Zhuo Tong. Both of them rotated their magic power and sealed the activities of the qi of heaven and earth.

None of the magic power resulted from the battle would be leaked outside. Meanwhile, Xu Rushan wanted to see whether this kid could really withstand Yan Zhongze’s five palms!

“If he can do it, I will personally present the Profound Heart of Mother Earth to him. But the question is, can he really do it?!”

Yan Zhongze descended to the other Sparrow Ascending Stage. Ning Fan gently stroked the female corpse’s hair as if he was telling her to not worry and leaped over the pool of blood which belonged to Zhao Zijin and into the stage.

The atmosphere was somber. A massive battle intent rose when the two of them stood at the thousand zhang* large stage which was made of silver!

Yan Zhongze moved his palm and Ning Fan clenched his fist!

“You want to borrow my Cloud Intent to comprehend your Unyielding Intent. Fine! I’ll lend you a hand! Just think of it as this old man trying to form good ties with Fellow Daoist Zhou. However, I have a reminder for you. You can’t withstand all my five palms… If you are able to withstand three of them, I will then help you persuade Xu Rushan in giving you the Profound Heart of Mother Earth… The first palm!”

Yan Zhongze gently pushed his palm at the direction of Ning Fan. It looked soft and weak. But the next moment, a blast could be heard in heaven and earth. Countless clouds of the island dispersed and transformed into traces of cloud power! The power of the clouds formed a palm!

All of a sudden, a thousand zhang* tall palm radiating golden light rushed down from the sky. Wherever it passed by, the sky would be fragmented, exposing the indistinctively black realm of the void!

That palm constituted a hundred percent of his power!

Any cultivator below the Spirit Severing Realm would instantly die the moment they came into contact with it!

When facing the pressure generated by the palm, Ning Fan’s legs turned feeble, showing signs of kneeling down to surrender!

It was no wonder why Yan Zhongze had not given his all earlier. If he did, Ning Fan would likely be forced to kneel before the pressure of his palm. In a way, that action would breed enmity with Ning Fan as he caused the latter to suffer humiliation.

Ning Fan was in agony. His knees were in excruciating pain as if they were on the verge of being crushed to pieces. But he deliberately chose to stand on his feet!

“I must not yield! If I yield, who is going to protect the people who stand by my side! I…will…not…kneel!”

 Even if the bones of his knees broke, he was determined to not fall to his knees!

“Jade Life… Jade Life! That word ‘jade’ is not about the formation of jade. Instead, it is about the willingness to be pulverized like jade and not yield! Being overcautious and indecisive would only cause the intent of my punch to crumble! Flinching and retreating would only render my Heart of Dao to shatter! I’m willing to sacrifice my body but my intent will never be extinguished. My punch can be pulverized like jade but my heart will never yield! In that manner, only then could I congeal my Divine Intent! In that state, only then could I attain the Jade Life Realm!”

The next moment, he forgot all the pain he was feeling. He forgot everything. In his ears, there was only silence. In his eyes, there was only one gigantic palm from above the sky.

“Ice Smash!”

He hurled his punch but this time, the ice that froze heaven and earth was black in colour!

That color was the representation of his tremendous devil intent!

Zhuo Tong, Yan Zhongze, Xu Rushan… Each and every one of them had Divine Intent!

However, what Ning Fan was condensing was Devil Intent!

Although it had yet to take its form, its aura surpassed that of his Divine Intent of Rain. It was quickly reaching the Seventh Grade and possibly even higher!

Note :

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