Grasping Evil

Peak Divine Transformation Realm

His blood essence gradually replenished. His white hair turned black and his appearance returned to its original.

After spending a few months healing his wounds using his five natal black stars, Ning Fan completely recovered despite the severity of his injuries.

“The Black Star Technique is indeed profound. Without this technique, it would have been very difficult to recover my blood essence and injuries, let alone my life force that has been greatly depleted this time...”

Ning Fan exhaled a mouthful of foul breath and loosened up his muscles. After making sure that everything was alright, he revealed a pleased smile.

His gaze fell upon the golden crystal. He no longer hesitated this time and was determined to consume it.

This crystal was brimming with the power of time which could cause distortions in time.

Its power was so strong that it could never be absorbed in one go. Instead, it would need to be harmonized using different kinds of spiritual herbs.

This technique of harmonization was rarely mentioned in the Emperor Ancient Chaos’ memories. However, the pill refinement techniques which Xi Ran gave him happened to contain a number of methods to harmonize this power.

Ning Fan patted his storage pouch and took out a jade bowl and tens of types of spiritual ingredients. He ground them into powder and turned them into medicinal liquid. After that, he submerged the crystal in it.

The crystal gave off a faint golden vapor and slowly melted in the medicinal liquid.

At first, that medicinal liquid was deep green. But after the crystal melted, it turned pure gold.

Ning Fan lifted the jade bowl and stared at the liquid with his keen eyes which were bright like torches. He then gently took a sip of the medicinal liquid and immediately put down the jade bowl to refine its power.

Even though he had just taken a sip of it, a burning sensation instantly ran across his body as if his entire body was on fire and his blood veins boiling violently.

The heat waves in his body increased without stopping and his skin turned reddish violet.

Ning Fan could not help but feel rather shocked. He was very familiar with this situation. It was clearly an indication of consuming too much medicinal power which caused his body to be on the verge of exploding!

He merely took a sip of the medicinal liquid but this sip contained at least ten thousand units of magic power which was equivalent to consuming one hundred pellets of Thunder Profound Pills!

Despite having a total of nearly one hundred and eighty thousand units of power from his three types of power, his immortal veins were almost destroyed by the power contained within the medicinal liquid he had consumed.

Fortunately, before the power he absorbed nearly exceeded the amount he could take, it stopped and his body did not burst in the end. After all, Ning Fan still had a sense for the proper limit on refining how much medicinal liquid at one time.

“Refine!”

Ning Fan closed his eyes, trying his best to absorb the golden power of the medicinal liquid.

He finally realized that he had completely underestimated the power of the crystal that was controlling the time flow on the seventh floor.

Seven days later, Ning Fan absorbed all of the medicinal power within the first sip he took and had gained 11400 units of magic power in total.

He then took a big mouthful of the medicinal liquid and began the assimilation process for another seven days. His magic power increased by another 12200 units.

After that, he took the third sip, the fourth sip...

Two months later, Ning Fan completely assimilated the last drop of the medicinal liquid and his magic power had increased by 109400 units in total.

When he was consuming the golden crystal in the form of medicinal liquid, he did not grow immune to its effect like how he did after consuming pills excessively in the past and his magic power also did not turn illusory in the end.

After all, this crystal contained the purest power of time which not any kind of pill would be able to compare.

Looking at the remaining viscous liquid on the jade bowl, Ning Fan stuck out his tongue and licked it clean without considering his image. That little amount of liquid raised his magic power an additional 500 units.

Putting away the jade bowl, Ning Fan examined his inner body and his eyes twinkled with excitement.

After assimilating the crystal, his magic power rose from 28320 units to 138220 units!

A single crystal had helped him raise more than one hundred thousand units of magic power. That thing was indeed heaven-defying!

A humongous cloud of silver flames suddenly appeared in the void space above him. A cluster of flames rushed towards him.

This Heavenly Tribulation of Flames which could send chills down the spines of ordinary Divine Transformation Realm cultivators was literally devoured by Ning Fan in a gulp, serving as nourishment for his Stele of Sun and Moon.

After examining his inner body again, a frown appeared on his face.

He noticed that there was something else residing inside his immortal veins.

It was... a trace of golden blood!

The streak of golden blood was extremely delicate. If Ning Fan had not observed his inner body closely, he definitely would not have noticed it in his veins.

He tried to study that trace of golden blood more deeply. However, as soon as his spirit sense went close to the golden trace of blood, it immediately vanished, as if it had melted in his blood. Then, it was nowhere to be found.

“What was that?!”

Ning Fan knitted his brows even more tightly and repeatedly circulated his magic power. However, he did not feel any side effect or extra ability after experiencing such a tremendous improvement in his magic power.

This is strange.

Doubtlessly, this trace of golden blood appeared after I assimilated the power of the crystal. I wonder if it’s something good or bad…

“Could it be a mark that the Lost World Palace planted in the crystals?!”

Thinking of this possibility, a tingling sensation ran across his scalp. He did not enjoy being pursued by a group of immortal beings.

After making sure several times that the golden blood that disappeared in his body did not look like a mark, only then did he start to feel a little calmer. However, his mind was still unsettled.

Having a great boost in his magic power was a joyous matter, but he could not feel happy about it at all. If he couldn’t get a clear idea of what the golden blood was, he would not be at ease.

When he began to ponder about the trace of golden blood, he was absorbed in his own thoughts for ten consecutive days. From the beginning until the end, he was checking his inner body, waiting for that trace of golden blood to appear once again.

On the tenth day, that trace of golden blood reappeared in his immortal veins.

This time, Ning Fan did not give the golden blood the opportunity to dissipate again. He directly coiled it with his spirit sense and expelled it from one of his fingertips.

He gazed thoughtfully at the trace of golden blood on his fingertip. His expression gradually turned calm and composed.

“So it turns out that this golden blood is a trace of the power of time that had dissolved in my blood. Let’s temporarily call it the ‘Blood of Time’. This streak of blood should bring no harm to me but benefits instead. With this blood, I can use a trace of time power…”

Ning Fan let out a sigh of relief. His eyes turned solemn and at the next moment, a trace of golden purple mist revolved around his fingertips.

He looked at the mist in silence. In the past, he did not understand why the mist was golden purple. Now, however, he seemed to have found the answer.

The color of purple remained unchanged but the color of gold had become slightly deeper.

The color of purple represented the Immortal Sovereign’s Dao while the color of gold was the power of time!

It was a technique that Ning Fan comprehended on his own by imitating the power of Samsara.

Now, only then did he realize that he created this technique by imitating the power of Samsara from the perspective of time. The power that weathered out everything depended on the power of time which was gold in color.

An interval of time is worth an ounce of gold…

He then absorbed the Blood of Time into his body. He now concluded that the Blood of Time was something useful that would enhance the power of his Wind Mist Finger. As such, it was a blessing to him.

That crystal had increased his magic power by one hundred thousand units and gave him a trace of Blood of Time. For a moment, it really urged him to steal the other six crystals too.

He finally understood the reason why the dignified Red Cloud Rain Sovereign would try to steal the crystals. Perhaps what Red Cloud Rain Sovereign wanted was not the power of the crystals, but the power of time.

Although the crystals were good, one needed to stay alive to enjoy them.

Not to mention Ning Fan who was not able to steal the remaining six crystals for now, it was definitely an unwise move even if he had the capabilities.

The seventh floor of the Lost World Tower lost its time distortion effect due to the loss of the crystal. However, since it was rare for Void Fragmentation Realm experts to come to the Lost World Tower, who would find out about the missing crystal?

If the time distortion of the first six floors of the tower are also ruined, the matter about Ning Fan stealing the crystals would be immediately exposed.

It was obviously unwise.

Setting all thoughts aside, Ning Fan calmed his breathing, trying to adjust his condition to its best.

His magic power which used to be the weakest of all the three types of power he possessed had been improved. Now, all three types of power: magic power, demon power and devil qi had attained the Mid Divine Transformation Realm.

Right afterwards, Ning Fan would try to merge these three types of power together, just like how he combined his three kinds of divine intents.

In the past, he had merged his Divine Intent of Rain, Devil Intent of Evil Luo Mountain and the Demon Intent of Fu Li into a portrait. That brand-new intent realm was his longing for his past in the Seven Apricot City, a determination to freeze all of his past in Samsara.

With the experience of merging his intent realms beforehand, it would not be too difficult for him to combine his three powers.

Ning Fan’s goal was to break the restriction of race and wipe out all the traces of the divine cultivators, demon cultivators and devil cultivators.

From now on, he was neither a member of the divine race, the demon race nor the devil race…

He was just Ning Fan!

Three days later, Ning Fan’s eyes beamed with energy as he bellowed.

“Condense!”

As soon as he uttered that word, black snow began to fall in the vicinity of ten thousand li* (500m per li). Ning Fan’s body was coiled with violet light, as if he had put on a purple robe. A plum tree with bloody plum blossoms and dark trunks appeared behind him.

This portrait was formed with three kinds of divine intent. They were completely different from each other and their natures contrasted among themselves. Despite that, they were integrated into one and it was done depending on Ning Fan’s stubbornness and memories.

He was never stubborn over his race. What mattered to him the most was whether he had the capabilities to protect his family or not.

Be it being a divine cultivator, a demon cultivator or a devil cultivator… Whichever path he chose, he was still Ning Fan after all.

“Combine!”

The three types of powers started to combine together. After Emperor Ancient Chaos’s death, no one could perform such a pioneering act. It was really unexpected that someone like Ning Fan who cultivated all three types of power would appear in later generations!

The devil qi merged with the demon power and the demon power overlapped with the magic power.

Occasionally, Ning Fan’s body would seethe with thick devil qi, radiate the light of divinity and give off immense demonic qi.

Three distinct temperaments eventually disappeared without a trace.

One month later, Ning Fan opened his eyes. There wasn’t the benevolence of the divine cultivators, the thirst for blood of the devils and the treacherous demeanor of the demons.

What he had on his face was just an easygoing expression like before.

“I am who I am!”

He suddenly rose to his feet. After the combination of the three types of powers, his magic power had become dominant.

Additionally, this magic power had 293130 units in total. It had already broken through to the Late Divine Transformation Realm and was just a hair’s breadth away from the Peak Divine Transformation Realm!

Besides, this amount of magic power could be turned into devil qi or demon power at will.

The path he took was not the path of divinity, the path of demons or the path of devils. It was a completely different path. Someone had chosen this path before Emperor Ancient Chaos. After Emperor Ancient Chaos died, all the great emperors in the ancient times perished. Since then, no one had walked this path again.

It was an ancient path of cultivation!

Above the sky, clouds of flames appeared again. This time, before the clouds could even condense, they were pulverized by Ning Fan with a swing of his palm and he then swallowed all of the silver flames of the Heavenly Tribulation.

The Heavenly Tribulation that occurred this time was powerful enough to severely injure a Late Divine Transformation Realm expert. However, how would Ning Fan care about this degree of damage with his current power?

“It’s just a small step away from achieving another breakthrough in my cultivation realm again. I might as well just press on and go straight for the Peak Divine Transformation Realm in one go!”