Grasping Evil

The Ten Steps Bridge; Bei Li.

As the tenth step forcefully landed on the bridge, the immortal’s prestige shook. Ning Fan felt a hint of sweetness in his throat and almost coughed up a mouthful of blood.

But he deliberately chose not to cough nor swallow it down because if he does so, his strength would weaken and the tenth step would be his maximum limit.

“This man really made ten steps in just an attempt! Ten steps and an illusion. At this point, he will be facing the first illusion of his mortal life. The first illusion always shows a person’s first enemy. I wonder what the cultivation level of his first enemy would be…”

Ning Fan stopped at the tenth step. The purple mist gradually congealed into a black-robed cultivator emanating a Late Harmonious Spirit Realm aura in front of him. That person’s expression was indifferent. He looked young but his voice was old and hoarse.

He was the person who abducted Zhihe into the All Pleasure Sect with the intention of keeping her as his human cauldron. He was the outer sect elder of the Heaven Separation Sect – Wu Dongnan!

He was the first person whom Ning Fan killed with his own hands!

The Daoist child, Yi Qing’s countenance changed and involuntarily said, “His first enemy is actually a Late Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivator…”

The reason why he felt surprised was not because the Late Harmonious Spirit Realm was a powerful cultivation level but because a Late Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivator was indeed a little too strong to be one’s first enemy.

Even strong cultivators began their cultivation when they were just mortals. Therefore, the people whom the cultivators killed for the first time were normally mortal beings or merely Vein Opening Realm juniors…

Having a Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivator as his first enemy…

It is either he killed his first enemy after attaining the Harmonious Spirit Realm or he had directed the tip of his sword to that person when he had just begun the path of cultivation…

“It won’t be difficult for him to break this illusion. What I’m wondering is whether he can still make the eleventh step without stopping. If he can, he can be ranked within the top nine thousand among the Divine Transformation Realm cultivator of the Four Heavens…But I suppose he should not be able to do it. He could barely make the tenth step just now as it almost made him cough up blood…”

Ning Fan’s gaze landed on Wu Dongnan while his eyes flashed with cold light.

That Wu Dongnan might just be an illusion, but he appeared to be exactly lifelike.

Besides, when he was facing Ning Fan, his expression was ferocious and his mouth was uttering harsh words.

“Ning Fan, how dare you kill me?! How dare you kill me?! If this matter is known by the master of my Heaven Separation Sect – Master Wuxie, you will surely die!”

As he spoke, his senses gradually became clear.

Only then did he realize that he seemed to have been dead for a very long time already. The current Ning Fan before his eyes was no longer the Fifth-Level Vein Opening Realm junior who killed him in the past!

The aura being emanated by Ning Fan was completely beyond his reach, just like an unattainable mountain. However, because Ning Fan was on the verge of breaking through to the Divine Transformation Realm, his aura was almost restrained within him, making Wu Dongnan be unable to notice how strong he currently was at first glance.

But as Ning Fan’s eyes turned cold, his aura force was unleashed without reservation!

When the Late Divine Transformation Realm aura force landed on Wu Dongnan’s illusory body which was formed by the purple mist, his heart was filled with terror.

“This…What’s his cultivation level?! Gold Core Realm?! No. No one among the Gold Core Realm cultivators in the Yue Country would have such powerful aura force… Could it be the legendary Nascent Soul Realm? Yes. That must be it. He must be at the Nascent Soul Realm! But how is this possible?! How could he become a Nascent Soul Realm expert?! Impossible!”

To Wu Dongnan, the Nascent Soul Realm was just a myth.

However, just as he was suppressed by the blood-red aura force, he realized that that aura force alone was sufficient to cause his body of purple mist to crumble! His immortal veins disintegrated inch by inch! His Sea of Consciousness turned to dust, it was as if his Heart of Dao which he cultivated his entire life vanished under Ning Fan’s aura force!

“This is the prestige of a Late Divine Transformation Realm being… Wu Dongnan, you plotted against Zhihe in the past. This feud, I will never forget even after cutting you down generations after generations… Die!”

In a flash, Wu Dongnan’s body was destroyed, leaving only his head which eventually fell onto the bridge without the support from his body. His eyes were still staring at Ning Fan with disbelief.

This illusion might be unreal as its name suggested, but what happened in that illusion was real. So that was the technique of an Immortal Sovereign. The difference between reality or imagination rests on his single thought! 

“Late Divine Transformation Realm. Late Divine Transformation Realm…” Wu Dongnan was stupefied. Divine Transformation Realm was just too much stronger than the Nascent Soul Realm. To him, it was a legend among legends.

Ning Fan placed the eleventh step on the bridge!

As his foot fell, Wu Dongnan’s skull was squashed underfoot. Meanwhile, his dark hair grew longer and danced in the air even though there was no breeze. His white robe turned pure black and a demonic mark emerged on the left side of his face.

Without stopping, he lifted his leg forward as if it was as light as a feather and continued to make the twelfth step and the thirteenth step subsequently!

From the beginning of his cultivation until today, he had invented two techniques himself: the Nine Steps: Sky Treader and the Black Tempest Rupture Art.

The eleventh step was not his finishing point at all!

The Daoist child, Yi Qing’s eyes were filled with amazement. If he was not wrong, the technique that Ning Fan displayed by turning himself into a black shadow was actually one of the Void Fragmentation Realm techniques – Sense Soul Incarnation Chant1!

Under the enhancement of his Soul Incarnation technique, Ning Fan trod forward until the nineteenth step with ease and eventually completed twenty steps.

“Making twenty steps in just a single breath. If this man completes his Divine Transformation, it won’t be difficult for him to break into the top five thousand among the Divine Transformation Realm experts of the Four Heaves! Normally, the second illusion will be the person whom the cultivator wishes to kill but has yet to kill in his entire life… I wonder what’s the cultivation level of his arch nemesis…”

Just as Yi Qing’s voice fell, his eyes widened immediately at the following second.

In front of Ning Fan, the purple mist condensed into a ten thousand zhang* tall giant wearing black armor. His presence was radiating the frightening aura of a Void Fragmentation Realm expert who had already attained the 5th Heavenly Layer.

“Fifth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm. The possessor of the Nirvana Devil Veins! His arch enemy is actually such a powerful expert!”

Facing the giant with a height of ten thousand zhang*, Ning Fan appeared to be as insignificant as an ant.

Even so, the ant-like Ning Fan’s eyes were fearless and menacing. He raised his head and glared at the giant.

“Han Nietian!”

“An ignorant ant! Who do you think you are to call out this emperor’s full name?! Just wait a while longer. The period of a hundred years will be over very soon. Your master will die and there’s no escape for you as well! Ancient Devil Dao, Turning Broken Bones into Soldiers!”

The black-armored giant literally bit off one of his finger where blood oozed out incessantly from his wound.

One of his fingers was equivalent to a small mountain in size. The bones of his finger transformed into a ray of black light, conjuring one hundred thousand devil soldiers. All of them looked vicious and hideous and each of them possessed strength at the Peak Gold Core Realm.

In the next second, the massive troop of soldiers began to merge together with one another. Ning Fan held his hand in the air, grasping the sunlight in the Sea of Clouds which transformed into a brilliant golden spear.

“Turning Broken Bones into Soldiers of the Ancient Devil Dao… 1000000 Gold Core Realm soldiers fused into 1000 Nascent Soul Realm experts and 1000 Nascent Soul Realm experts combined into 10 Divine Transformation Realm experts. If the ten Divine Transformation Realm experts fuse together, they could produce a Peak Divine Transformation Realm expert… However, before your soldiers finish fusing, this technique can be cancelled!”

With a slap of his palm, the golden spear pierced through the troop of soldiers like a ray of blinding light and exploded!

It was the Parting Sun Spear, A Mid Divine Transformation Realm demonic technique. It was Ning Fan’s first time congealing the body of the spear and using this technique.

Under the power of the spear, one hundred thousand Gold Core Realm bone soldiers were all rendered in a grievous state.

With a sweep of his sword sense, a cloud of black shadow approached them, wiping out every last one of them!

“Fake Moksha Emperor, get out from my sight!”

 Ning Fan’s gaze seemed to be carrying the might of the Heavens. With just a look, the black-armored giant suddenly fell in pieces.

In these illusions, some of them were real while some of them weren’t. If Wu Dongnan was much closer to reality, then the Moksha Emperor was naturally fake since he wasn’t dead yet…

Yi Qing stared at him with his mouth agape. Commonly, if the Divine Transformation Realm cultivators met a Void Fragmentation Realm expert in their second illusions, they would definitely choose to wait for a day to pass. One day later, the illusion would dissipate and the purple mist would lessen. If they did not turn their heads back, they would then be able to continue walking forward.

There wasn’t someone who would really use techniques to cut down an illusory being, let alone crush a Void Fragmentation Realm imaginary presence with just a gaze.

“Apparently, I’ve underestimated this man… He clearly has the capability of finishing the Ten Steps Bridge without a break. In the list of the Divine Transformation Realm experts of the Four Heavens, he is qualified to be ranked within the top one thousand… But that ranking should be his limit because his cultivation level is still at the bottom. If he advances into the Mid Divine Transformation Realm, he will surely be within the top five hundreds. If he breaks through to the Late Divine Transformation Realm, he will definitely be within the top one hundred. If he attains the Peak Divine Transformation Realm, he will certainly enter the top fifty… My judgement wasn’t wrong after all. This man is really a genius!”

Twenty-first step, twenty-second step…Thirtieth step.

Ning Fan gradually discovered that as long as he persisted in moving forward without stopping, the illusions of the purple mist were the perfect nourishment for his state of mind.

After eliminating two illusions, his state of mind had already reached the early stage of the Divine Transformation Realm.

Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel

Note: 

Sense Soul Incarnation Chant was a technique Ning Fan found in the Demon Sinister Forest in chapter 63.