Grasping Evil

Zhou… Zhou

Ximen Ye gently touched the cut on his neck, his eyes filled with killing intent.

However, he fiercely bit the tip of his tongue afterwards and suppressed that immense killing intent.

He was arrogant. Therefore, when he got injured by Ning Fan, he went crazy due to his reluctance to accept the truth.

He was self-conceited. Therefore, he would not allow himself to suffer any losses.

The sleeves of Ximen Ye’s black robes fluttered in the wind. Gradually, his heart became calm and composed. His deep black eyes no longer revealed any emotion. Four black divine stars appeared on his glabella. However, he lifted one of his hands and crushed two of them. Blood flowed out from the corners of his mouth while his expression remained cold and dignified.

He did not give any explanation and neither did he conceal his killing intent towards Ning Fan.

However, Ning Fan knew that the reason why he destroyed two of his divine stars himself was for the fairness of their showdown. He wanted to eliminate Ning Fan while having a similar strength.

“You are indeed very strong. If you were born one thousand years earlier, you would certainly have attained the Void Fragmentation Realm. However, you have to understand one thing. At the end of the day, you are not my match! Your injuries are too grave and you are now just like an arrow at the end of its flight…”

“I don’t think so.”

Ning Fan secretly activated the Black Star Healing Technique as faint starlight glowed around his body.

Since he did not directly summon his natal black stars, even Ximen Ye would not know that he had comprehended the Black Star Technique.

His injuries which were originally bloody and severe were quickly healed.

This scene shocked Ximen Ye once more. The self-healing technique that Ning Fan used closely resembled the Star Healing Technique.

“Your techniques are quite impressive. As such, I can fight without any restraint. If you are able to walk out of here alive, I can assure you on behalf of the Ximen Aristocratic Family that Bei Xiaoman belongs to you! If you can’t… your journey ends here!”

Ximen Ye no longer spoke any more words. His expression changed as his first divine star twinkled. All of a sudden, darkness engulfed every ray of light within the heavenly dwelling space.

As darkness fell, Ximen’s qi gradually turned ethereal. Eventually, his presence had literally disappeared from Ning Fan’s sight.

Ximen Ye’s first divine star was the Divine Star of Night, the master of darkness.

As long as he stayed within the darkness, he could completely conceal his presence including his qi which could allow him to perform assassinations or sneak attacks with ease.

*Chi*

Traces of sword qi which were as black as ink flew towards Ning Fan from all directions of the lightless space.

Ning Fan wielded both of his swords and parried each and every one of the attacks. The purple star in his left eye flashed which allowed him to see through the darkness. Almost in an instant, he located the place where Ximen Ye was hiding.

The baleful qi in his body seethed and flowed into his blood-red sword. Under the enhancement of his baleful qi, the blood-red sword emanated a bizarre and evil red glow amidst the dark.

He swung his sword and pointed at Ximen Ye’s location. The vast land trembled and the mountains swayed as if millions of troops were trampling across this place. The tip of his sword seemed to have pierced through heaven and earth. In the next moment, countless ear-splitting roars of a blood dragon filled the entire heavenly dwelling space.

A blood-red sword light shot out from his sword. It split into ten and then split into a hundred. In a matter of seconds, there were already one million rays of sword light.

When his sword qi swept across the place, innumerable rifts appeared in the hollow space. Layers of darkness were literally torn off and Ximen Ye who concealed himself within it was forced to reveal himself with just a single sword attack from Ning Fan!

*Puke*

After coughing out mouthfuls of blood, Ximen Ye retreated one hundred steps. His bun was cut making his long black hair scatter and dance wildly in the wind.

He was inwardly astonished by Ning Fan’s sword attack that forced him to reveal himself. However, it was within his expectations.

As a matter of fact, the reason why he concealed himself in the darkness was to activate the power of his second divine star which was a little unique. It was called the Divine Star of Seven Sounds. It would take some time for him to completely activate the power of this divine star with his Divine Transformation Realm cultivation base.

He drew a mysterious diagram of a sound wave in the air with both of his hands and conjured a seven-stringed guzheng with his void power. He carried it in his arms as traces of an ancient melody echoed from his fingertips.

Wherever the melody passed through, the sword light would crumble. At this moment, Ximen Ye stood in midair. It looked like he was able to compete with the sun and the moon hanging above the sky.

Suddenly, an immense sense of danger rose within Ning Fan, making him retreat instinctively.

At the moment he flew backwards, Ximen Ye muttered the first chant.

“The first sound of the Seven Sounds, The Sound of the Five Elements!”

His speed of plucking the strings increased and the devilish melody burned like fire. In the places where the melody passed by, columns of black flames emerged. Meanwhile, cold ice fell from the sky as wind and sand blew violently and thunder boomed in the sky. The entire area was also filled with thick mist.

“A Mortal Void Realm technique!”

Ning Fan’s eyes shone with solemnity. This devilish melody which manipulates the five elements was clearly a fatal attack at the Mortal Void Realm. Being hit by any one of the elements was the same as being struck by a Mortal Void Realm attack.

Each of the sound waves travelled towards him, carrying unstoppable destructive force. However, since a sound wave was intangible, how could it be fended off?

There were ten thousand traces of dark light shining upon Ximen Ye’s head which made his presence look regal. At this moment, no one would be able to tell that the melody he produced with his guzheng carried an infinite amount of killing intent.

As the devilish melody swept across the area, the soul of the great land that Ning Fan had extracted suddenly dispersed. His Soul Extraction Technique failed, causing his aura to regress to the Peak Divine Transformation Realm.

*Zheng*

As Ximen Ye increased his pace of plucking strings, the sound waves turned into physical waves, cancelling out all five elements!

The first sound of the Seven Sounds – The Sound of the Five Elements could neutralize all the five elements beneath the heavens!

In order to fend it off, one must never use techniques of the five elements. The only choice was to use means that did not consist of the five elements.

Ning Fan who was dressed in white robes looked like a silver moon. His cold eyes were deep and bright like stars.

He did not know many techniques that did not make use of the five elements. However, he knew there was one technique which could allow him to fend off this devilish sound of the five elements.

To break the five elements, I shall conjure five graves!

“Wind as the Wood Dragon, land as the Earth Dragon, lightning as the Golden Dragon, fire as the Fire Dragon, ice as the Water Dragon…

“Upon the death of these five dragons, the black dragon rises! When the five elements die, the five graves emerge!”

Ning Fan’s fingers moved rapidly, creating a series of abstruse and mysterious hand seals. At the same time, he activated his Fu Li Demon Blood to help in casting this technique.

Every time he muttered the chant, a one thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) tomb would appear above his head. The shadows of dragons soared around it.

The five tombs represented the five elements respectively. This technique held the secret of life and death. Upon the appearance of the five tombstones, Ximen Ye was suddenly stunned. The first string on his seven-stringed guzheng broke!

At the same time, the devilish sound of the five elements faded!

“The Five Graves of the Dragon Burial Technique! This is the lost demon ancestral blood technique of the Black Dragon Race! How are you able to use it?!”

Looking at the five large tombstones which were falling above his head, Ximen Ye’s eyes widened. He immediately plucked the second string of his guzheng.

“The second sound of the Seven Sounds, the Sound of the Four Beasts!”

The Sound of the Four Beasts specialized in restraining cultivators who possessed the blood of the Azure Dragon Race, White Tiger Race, Vermilion Bird Race and Black Tortoise Race!

*Zheng*

Traces of sound waves which seethed with murderous intent turned into runes that took the shape of a dragon and crashed against the five tombstones.

The massive force of the falling tombstones was strong and violent. Upon collision, they pulverized countless sound waves.

However, the more runes the sound waves created they encountered, the more illusory the black dragon of the tombstones became. Within a few breaths, the black dragon on the first tombstone faded and the tombstone exploded into pieces!

“The third sound of the Seven Sounds, the Sound of Mountain Extraction!”

*Zheng*

At the moment he strummed his guzheng, a devilish melody that carried the aura of wild and turbulent waves that were strong enough to move mountains and sink an island, destroyed the remaining four tombstones!

“The fourth sound of the Seven Sounds, the Sound of Thousands of Swords!”

*Zheng*

When he played this melody, a magical sound conjured one million rays of sword light which plunged towards Ning Fan, drowning the latter in a sea of swords.

Ximen Ye’s magical melodies were crafty and hard to repel. Each of the melodies was able to break unique techniques.

As he saw Ning Fan being buried under the sea of swords, Ximen Ye let out a cold snort. He then said in a disdainful tone.

“You could only withstand four of my magical sounds? It seems like there’s no need for me to use the three remaining sounds.”

“Are you done blabbering?”

A cold chuckle was heard under the sea of swords.

He would admit that the art of the Seven Sounds that Ximen Ye displayed was indeed unique. However, it seemed to be a little too early to say that he could kill him with it.

If anyone could see through the one million rays of sword light, they would be able to witness an extraordinary sight.

As the magical melody resounded, the one million swords that the melody transformed gathered and became nine streams of swords. Ning Fan stood composedly above the streams of the river. There were multiple rays of sword light flying past along his skin every second. However, none of them dared to pierce through him.

This magical sound might be strong, but it did not contain a sword intent.

On the other hand, Ning Fan’s sword intent was the Immortal Entrapping Sword Intent which had attained the Large Accomplishment. It was the greatest sword intent of all kinds of swords. With this sword intent, how would the sword qi of an ordinary sword cultivator dare to hurt him?!

Ning Fan gently lifted one of his fingers which seemed to carry an unimaginable power that could wipe out everything and cause a stir in the heavens.

When he pointed it, the world within the heavenly dwelling space trembled. Mountains collapsed. The land cracked. The sky shattered.

“Heaven Breaking Sword Finger - the first and second stage!”

Amidst the destruction of heaven and earth, a blinding sword light shot out from his finger turned into one million rays of sword light which he then stretched into one million sword threads.

Threads of swords filled the sky. The swords that were conjured by the melody disintegrated. When Ximen Ye saw Ning Fan whose body was coiled with sword threads, his cold eyes widened with surprise. He then summoned darkness that wrapped around his body.

Without any hesitation, he cast his guzheng aside and ran!

At the next moment, one million sword threads bombarded Ximen Ye’s direction. Heaven and earth was turned into a place as awful as a purgatory.

Under the barrage of the sword threads, the guzheng which was condensed using void power was immediately broken. Ximen Ye’s physical body was shredded to blood mist and he disappeared without leaving a shadow.

Ten breaths later, the sword threads faded. Above the ruins, a ball of black light condensed and Ximen Ye reappeared. His physical body had reformed. Doubtlessly, it was the Indestructible Body of Incarnation Technique!