Grasping Evil

General Bei, Save Me!

Half a day later, Ning Fan sent out message transmission flying swords to Gui Xiong Outpost, Dragon Burial City, Southern Prison Country and Li Kun Palace respectively. Besides, he also left a piece of jade slip for the old bear before stepping into the Star Gate.

Within the jade slip, it stored what Ning Fan had learnt from wielding void power. Moreover, Ning Fan had also portioned out a tiny trace of the void power which he comprehended himself and left it inside the jade slip.

This item should be able to help the old bear break through to the Void Refinement Realm.

“Man Shan and I have just met each other for a couple of times. If we have the chance to meet each other again in the future, perhaps we could sit down, have a drink and treat each other like brothers…”

Brothers…

This word evoked the feeling of guilt within Ning Fan.

“I wonder how Ning Gu and An Ran are doing now. Thirty years have passed. I guess they have already married. Perhaps they might already have children or even grandchildren now…”

Ning Fan gave the two of them quite a number of life-prolonging pills. If they consume them, it would not be a problem for them to live up to 200 years old even if they do not cultivate.

Perhaps it would be better if Ning Gu and An Ran could become a celestial couple in the mortal world.

Inside the Star Gate, there was a silver river which stretched towards the heavens, flowing against gravity. It was the path leading to the Heaven Hall.

The flowing speed of the silver river was extremely fast. Ning Fan simply took out the Seven Apricot Ship which had not been used for a long time. Borrowing the river current, he rode the ship to head towards the Heaven Hall.

“The Star of the Celestial Emperor…”

Ning Fan’s eyes lingered at one corner as his mind got into deep contemplation.

His original intention of obtaining the emperor’s star was just to break through to the Mid Divine Transformation Realm.

Today, however, he just needed to completely assimilate the terrifying amount of demon blood within his body in order to achieve the Mid Divine Transformation Realm. If he obtains the emperor’s star, his cultivation level on the foundation of the Mid Divine Transformation Realm would have another great improvement.

However, this was no longer Ning Fan’s final objective.

His hand held a black-colored chess piece. That piece was formed from a streak of black-colored starlight. It was the star technique of the Celestial Emperor.

That black-robed middle-aged man whom he met in the broken dream was no doubt the Celestial Emperor himself!

After musing on that matter for quite a while, Ning Fan finally got a conclusion.

The person who played chess with me in the broken dream was probably the previous lord of the Star Palace, the remaining intent of the Celestial Emperor after his death.

On the other hand, according to Luo You and Yuan Yao, Ning Fan had also found out how powerful the Black Star Technique was which was used by the Celestial Emperor.

With the blessings of a million rays of starlight, he could remain standing without dying under the joint attacks from a few Immortal Emperors… If Ning Fan masters that kind of healing technique, it would not be difficult for him to cure Ning Gu and prolong his lifespan. It would not be difficult for him to help the two souls in the Demon Sinister Forest namely Mu Weiliang and Ning Honghong, reconstruct their physical bodies. Furthermore, it could also stimulate the recovery process for the female corpse’s Sea of Consciousness.

The difficulty of seizing the Star of the Celestial Emperor is not high with the multiple trump cards and the group of spiritual puppets and refined corpse in my possession.

However, before obtaining the Star of the Celestial Emperor, I must find out the secrets behind this black chess piece which was formed from the black starlight.

Of course, I can’t be careless too.

Inside the Heaven Hall, there are the people of Imperial Concubine Zi. Besides, there might be also the Realm Beast whose location is currently unknown.

And… there is also the previous star lord of the Greedy Wolf Star Sea!

“Lu Bei, are you really going to take action against Imperial Concubine Zi?” Wu Yan asked Ning Fan who was standing at the bow of the ship. She sounded slightly perturbed.

“If I show mercy on her, then you will certainly be imprisoned after she complains to the Spirit King… I will capture her and keep her as my human cauldron. As to whether to kill her or not, it’s up to you.”

“I think it’s better not to kill her…” Wu Yan hesitated. However, she was not worried for Imperial Concubine Zi’s life. Instead, she was afraid that the sin that Ning Fan would commit would be too heavy after killing her.

Although both actions were also an offense against the Spirit King Palace, if his deed were to be exposed, the crime of abducting imperial concubines would definitely be lighter than the crime of killing them.

As long as he does not kill Imperial Concubine Zi, Wu Yan would be able to preserve Ning Fan’s life with the reputation of her family even if that matter were to be discovered…

“Since Sister Wu Yan is against killing her, then Brother Lu Bei will certainly not kill her. However, Brother Lu Bei, you must never be too careless… That Imperial Concubine Zi’s true name is called Nalan Zi. Anyhow, she is also a member of the Spirit King’s race, possessing the bloodline of one of the True Spirit Races - Purple Cuckoo Race. She might be somewhat bossy and domineering, but her capabilities are not weak. Besides, she is even pampered by the Spirit King… This time, she might bring along the secret treasure given to her by the Spirit King for her trip to the Star Palace on behalf of the Spirit King Palace… All in all, you must never belittle her!”

Xi Ran spoke, siding with Wu Yan. She seemed to have forgotten that just two months ago, she was still a loyal imperial concubine of the Spirit King Palace.

Unfortunately, she was currently proudly enlisted in Ning Fan’s harem. Without her knowing consciously, she had become antagonistic towards Imperial Concubine Zi.

“Don’t worry. I won’t underestimate her and the same goes for all my enemies! Speaking of which, there should be an important mission for your Spirit King Palace to come to the Star Palace, right? Is it just about obtaining the Star of the Celestial Emperor? I actually felt rather suspicious of your actions to gather the medicinal ashes earlier…”

Ning Fan’s gaze landed on Xi Ran’s face and then shifted to Wu Yan’s. Immediately, both of them revealed an awkward look.

“Is it something that can’t be told?” Ning Fan teasingly asked.

“No! It’s just….” The two women’s eyes turned to Yue Lingkong and Yuan Yao. Especially Yuan Yao, their eyes lingered on her for much longer…

What they were implying with their gaze was quite obvious. The two other women were outsiders. Especially Yuan Yao, although it was not certain yet, she seemed to be an expert of the divine race.

The demon race and divine race were both archenemies in the world war. It was already difficult for members from those two races to stay together and chat. As for the secret of the demon race, it was of course something that could not be leaked to anyone from the divine race.

“You all can communicate using telepathy and I won’t listen at all…”

Yuan Yao gave them a weird look. She had also never expected that she, the highly revered Palace Lord of the Lost World Palace, would lower herself and mingle with a group of junior sisters. Moreover, most of the younger sisters were cultivators from a different race…

Yuan Yao’s cultivation level had already recovered to the Early Divine Transformation Realm. What was recovered along with her cultivation level was her disposition as a high-ranking being.

Considering the possibility that she might bump into any old monster from the Northern Heaven in the Heaven Hall, she had also put on a veil to cover her appearance.

After Xi Ran and Wu Yan hesitated for a while, they eventually decided not to use telepathy to avoid the awkward situation among the others.

“In actual fact, the mission that was assigned to us who are the imperial concubines of the Spirit King Palace was not really about acquiring the Star of the Celestial Emperor. Instead, we were tasked to gather the emperor’s medicine within this Star Palace.”

“Emperor’s medicine?! The Demon Marshal of this land is Lu Wu who was once responsible  guarding the Celestial Emperor’s medicinal garden. However, after he had gone into slumber for such a long period of time, even if his demon body did not rot, the emperor’s medicine would have already turned to ashes. I’m afraid that your trip to this Star Palace will be fruitless. Perhaps you won’t be able to get any emperor’s medicine. At most, you will only be able to get some medicinal ashes… However, does the dignified lord of the Spirit King Palace actually need the emperor’s medicine? Could it be that the Spirit King has suffered some injuries?”

Yue Lingkong who obtained the inheritance of the Immortal Concubine Zang Yue obviously knew quite a lot of things about the Ancient Heavenly Court. Aside from that, with her intelligence, she could immediately deduce that the Spirit King was injured.

“Perhaps their mission is really to gather the medicinal ashes of the emperor’s medicine! Unexpected, the Spirit King has been grievously injured to this extent…” Yuan Yao frowned.

“Precisely. The mission for the imperial concubines was to gather the medicinal ashes. *Sigh* Sister Bei Yao is really sharp-witted. We, the imperial concubines from the Spirit King Palace, don’t even understand why the Spirit King would ask us to secretly gather the medicinal ashes but you know…”

Indeed, among all the women present, Yuan Yao’s cultivation level was the highest. In fact, her level was so powerful that it could make one’s hair stand.

She knew that the reason why the Spirit King ordered them to gather medicinal ashes of the emperor’s medicine was for gathering the ‘spirit’.

She also understood that the Spirit King must be at his wit’s end. Therefore, he was forced to send some people to the mortal world to search for the remaining ashes of the emperor’s medicine.

If they fail to bring back any medicinal ashes, the Spirit King might even die from severe injuries.

Once the Spirit King dies, if there is no successor for his position, the Spirit King Palace would also collapse with his death… At least, Xi Ran, Wu Yan, Lu Wan’er and the others would also be affected.

It was an extremely serious matter.

Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel