Grasping Evil

Chapter 467: Chapter 467: An Old Friend

Translator: GE_Team

Ten days later, under Ju Qing’s invitation, three pill refinement grandmasters namely Ning Fan, Yi Yunzi and Huang Tingzi opened all their cauldrons together to help concoct Feng Xueyan’s life-saving pill.

That pill was called the Devil Suppressing Pill. It was a pill with a grade that was extremely close to the Sixth Revolution. Once Feng Xueyan consumes it, fevers and headaches would no longer torment her for tens of years.

After studying the pill recipe carefully, Ning Fan ascertained that this pill was not harmful to Feng Xueyan at all. However, it would definitely not cure her illness completely.

It was because the cause of her illness originated from the Blood of Mo Luo which was sealed within her body.

Ju Qing had obtained the Eight Ancestors’ approval in seeking a life-saving pill for his beloved daughter. Perhaps the Eight Ancestors already knew that this pill could not completely cure Feng Xueyan. That being so, they did not try to ruin their plan and agreed to let Feng Xueyan consume the pill.

If Feng Xueyan consumes this pill, her life would no longer be in danger before the devil blood inside her is extracted which would only take place ten years later. Besides that, the Eight Ancestors who needed to save her every time her illness recurred in the past would be able to save their energy. Naturally, they were also willing to let her consume the pill.

“Does the Eight Ancestors still insist on sacrificing Feng Xueyan...?”

Ning Fan held the pill recipe with a cold and serious expression. No one knew what he was thinking about.

Today, under the protection of countless experts of the Giant Devil Clan, the three pill refinement grandmasters would concoct the Devil Suppressing Pill in front of tens of thousands of cultivators.

The impressive pill refinement techniques they displayed filled countless pill refinement masters with awe.

Those with discerning eyes could tell that Ning Fan was basically the only person who was doing the work during the process of concocting the pill. Meanwhile, both Huang Tingzi and Yi Yunzi were unable to provide much help.

In fact, he was already capable of concocting the pill depending on his own power. However, with the help of Huang Tingzi and Yi Yunzi, he could save a lot of time required to concoct the pill.

Countless cultivators began to firmly believe that Ning Fan not only had Peak Grade Fifth Revolution pill refinement mastery but was also at the top of all Fifth Revolution Pill Refinement Masters in terms of pill refinement.

There were even people who were calling Ning Fan as the “Eighth Pill Refinement Master of the Rain World”. The title implied that other than the seven Sixth Revolution Pill Refinement Masters, no one else could rival Ning Fan’s pill refinement mastery!

That title was indeed huge. Gaining everyone’s recognition in being the eighth pill refinement master of the entire Rain World, there would be even less people who would want to mess with Ning Fan. All of them wanted to maintain a friendly relationship with him in hopes of asking for his help in concocting pills in the future.

Countless cultivators had come to pay him a visit with gifts in tow. As usual, Ning Fan kept all of their gifts but refused to see any of them.

Even so, many old monsters were still delighted. Even though they could not meet Ning Fan in person, they had still established a good relationship with him as their gifts were accepted, hadn’t they?

When the pill was successfully produced, Ning Fan, Huang Tingzi and Yi Yunzi each received a Void Inquiry Pill.

Huang Tingzi and Yi Yunzi’s pill refinement mastery Yunzi were profound but their cultivation levels were only at the Divine Transformation Realm. With their current strength, holding a Void Inquiry Pill was extremely dangerous, just like the saying which goes, a common man’s only crime is to carry jade.

The two of them did not dare to linger around. After receiving the pills, they immediately excused themselves and returned to their home under the protection of countless experts from their respective forces.

As Ning Fan’s disciple in name, Yang Gu was really reluctant to leave his master. He wanted to follow Ning Fan to continue cultivating his Dao of Pills.

However, as a feudal ranking elder of the Pill Island, he carried an obligation to join the team in escorting the Void Inquiry Pill back to the island safely. Hence, he had no choice but to leave reluctantly.

He held great respect for Ning Fan. He did not care about his young age at all and he treated him like his own father.

Ning Fan knew that Yang Gu was a disciple worth keeping. Thus, he shared some of his insights of pill refinement with him and told him that he would be heading to the Mist Horn Clan’s auction in the near future. On his way back, he would stop by the Pill Island to teach him some pill refinement techniques and to use the Soul Washing Pond.

This filled Yang Gu with excitement and expectation. He thanked Ning Fan profusely, looking forward to the day Ning Fan would come to the Pill Island and share some profound pill refinement techniques with him.

A Void Inquiry Pill was a Mid Grade Sixth Revolution Pill. This pill could even tempt Void Glimpse Stage old monsters to fight and compete for it.

Under the protection of the Zhou Clan, the Void Inquiry Pill in Yi Yunzi’s hands was rather safe. However, Pill Island was clearly much weaker than the Zhou Clan. If any Void Glimpse Stage old monster tries to seize the Void Inquiry Pill from them, the entire Pill Island would certainly be in danger.

Therefore, at Huang Tingzi’s request, Ning Fan made a declaration using his identity as a feudal ranking elder of the Pill Island.

Anyone who dares to seize the Void Inquiry Pill of the Pill Island would be equivalent to offending him!

Ning Fan had the protection of both the Rain Sovereign and the Pill Sovereign. Besides, his pill refinement mastery was ranked eighth in the entire Rain World. Additionally, he was also capable of killing Shi Kun and Mo Xiu. The declaration he made caused countless Void Glimpse Stage old monsters to instantly dismiss the idea of seizing the Pill Island’s Void Inquiry Pill.

A Void Inquiry Pill might be rare and precious, but once they offend Ning Fan, they might not necessarily even have the chance to consume the pill.

As the great elder of the Pill Island, Huang Tingzi had once again owed Ning Fan a favor. He promised Ning Fan that the next time he comes to the Pill Island, he could use the Soul Washing Pond at will to improve his medicine soul!

When both Huang Tingzi and Yi Yunzi had departed, countless pill refinement masters also left one after another. The grand and spectacular Pill Ceremony of the internal sea finally ended.

As for Ning Fan, he still had something he was busy with and that was to help Feng Xueyan assimilate the Devil Suppressing Pill.

At the end of the day, Feng Xueyan was just a Tenth Level Vein Opening Realm cultivator whereas the Devil Suppressing Pill was a powerful pill with a grade that was extremely close to the Sixth Revolution.

Under normal circumstances, if a Vein Opening Realm junior consumes a Sixth Revolution Pill by mistake, the consequences that awaited her were definitely not soaring into the heavens and becoming a celestial being but a gruesome death due to their bodies imploding.

The important task of helping Feng Xueyan consume the pill eventually fell on Ning Fan’s shoulders. After all, he was the best pill refinement master there and personally concocted the Devil Suppressing Pill. Thus, he was the only person who understood how one could safely assimilate the medicinal power of the Devil Suppressing Pill.

Everyone near Feng Xueyan’s boudoir was driven away. And in the vicinity of a hundred thousand li (500m per li) around her boudoir was also locked down with layers of formation lights. No one was allowed to disturb her while she consumes the pill.

In the courtyard where white snowflakes flew as the gentle wind blew, Feng Xueyan was sitting on a swing with unfriendly and indifferent eyes. She completely ignored Ning Fan who was standing in front of her.

She was still angry at Ning Fan and did not want to interact with him. Well, she really had temper tantrums.

“Little girl, it’s time to have your medicine.” Ning Fan smiled awkwardly. He did not know how to coax this young girl to eat her medicine.

“...” Feng Xueyan turned her head to the other side, showing her reluctance to look at him.

“If you won’t eat the medicine, you will feel uncomfortable when your illness recurs. Aren’t you scared?” Ning Fan tried to intimidate her.

“It’s none of your business. I’m the one who’s refusing to eat the medicine anyway. If brother-in-law is so capable, you can just directly knock me unconscious and force-feed the medicine to me.” Feng Xueyan’s lips finally moved but her expression still looked cold.

“Knock you unconscious...” Ning Fan shook his head helplessly.

If it wasn’t because one has to be conscious when consuming the Devil Suppressing Pill, he would really be willing to knock her unconscious and help her channel the medicinal power after she’s knocked out.

He was never a person who liked troubles.

However, facing the current Feng Xueyan who wore an uncooperative but unresisting expression, Ning Fan was clueless about how he should begin.

When he thought about how Feng Xueyan was a victim of the Eight Ancestors’ plot and a future sacrificial offering to save the Giant Devil Clan, he felt sympathy for her. That made him reluctant to scold her and force her to do things against her will.

He let out a sigh and tried to persuade her.

“This is a pill that I’ve spent a lot of effort to concoct just for you. Are you really not going to eat it?”

“I...” Feng Xueyan seemed to have changed her mind. She did not want to waste Ning Fan’s effort and kindness.

“Be a good girl. Eat this pill and I’ll help you refine its medicinal power. If you don’t eat it, your illness will never be cured. The people who are concerned about you will feel sad.”

Feng Xueyan gently lowered her head and stopped playing with the swing. Moments later, she raised her head and looked at Ning Fan with her large pure eyes. Her lips moved as she tried to talk.

“Is Brother-in-law the one who cured Elder Sister Qiuling’s sickness?”

“Yes.”

“If Elder Sister Qiuling does not recover from her illness, will you feel sad?”

“Yes, I will.”

“If... If I don’t take the medicine, will you feel sad for me too...?” Feng Xueyan asked nervously.

Ning Fan looked at this lonely young lady and remained silent for a brief moment. After that, he answered determinedly.

“Yes.”

“T-Then, I will take the medicine...”

Feng Xueyan rose to her feet from the swing and obediently walked to her boudoir.

Her expression was cold like the falling snowflakes. However, just as she turned her back against Ning Fan, her small and slightly pale face suddenly turned reddish. Her cheeks were boiling hot.

She had a fit of anger at Ning Fan earlier but it completely disappeared at this moment.

Ning Fan did not notice her reddened cheeks. He just stared at her thin and feeble back with his brows knitted together.

He did not tell Feng Xueyan that the Devil Suppressing Pill could not cure her illness completely.

It was because he could only help her eradicate the hidden danger of the Blood of Mo Luo using the power of the ancestral talisman after he successfully gathered the devil qi from all four slates and learned the Mo Luo Ancestral Talisman.

If he harbors a strong intention of saving Feng Xueyan right now, he would certainly make an enemy out of the Eight Ancestors as he would ruin their plans which they had been planning for eight generations.

However, so what if he really offends the Eight Ancestors? He was not bothered about it at all. Well, the number of people he offended in the past was more than just eight individuals.

The decorations inside Feng Xueyan’s boudoir were simple. She did not have a lot of furniture. The walls of her room were fully embedded with cryolite, a kind of spiritual mineral that could lower the indoor temperature.

She was constantly being pestered by the devil blood inside her which gave her fevers from time to time. Hence, the reason for this ice cold environment was to make her feel more comfortable whenever the symptoms recurred.

There were no flowers or plants in her room because plants that could survive in such low temperatures were very rare.

A few little snowmen were made from the snow that was piling up within the room. The naive and innocent expression on those little snowmen were similar to Feng Xueyan from that time Ning Fan met her for the first time.

“Brother-in-law... You were the only one who was able to find me... and listen to my heart...” Feng Xueyan muttered to herself internally.

“What?” Ning Fan did not notice Feng Xueyan’s lips move. Thus, he did not activate his Mind Reading Technique.

“Nope... It’s nothing...”

“Mm. Take off your clothes and then put the Devil Suppressing Pill inside your mouth. Remember, don’t chew or swallow it. Just hold it inside your mouth and lie on the bed. I will help you assimilate its medicinal power.”

“Huh? I have to take my clothes off!?”

Feng Xueyan gently bit her lips. This time, the area from her cheeks to her ears turned red in front of Ning Fan.

Her mind was suddenly assailed with her past memories of when Ning Fan took off her clothes last time, completely exposing her white silky back. It made her feel extremely embarrassed even to this today.

Although she hesitated for a bit, she still listened to Ning Fan’s words and undressed herself, leaving only her undergarments on. She then obediently placed the Devil Suppressing Pill into her mouth and lied on her bed.

Her two little soft tips which were faintly protruding from her chest were partly visible whereas her round and curvy butt were fully revealed to an outsider for the first time.

She was just too weak and skinny but her body was not short. It made Ning Fan wonder if she even weighed 70 jin* (one jin = 0.5kg).

He gently caressed her tender back with his palms. When his eyes fell upon the eight devil flame seals, his expression turned grim. The devil blood trapped within her body by these seals was the root cause of all her troubles...

Feng Xueyan did not know what Ning Fan was thinking. Everytime she felt his gentle touch, her body would jolt and shiver out of nervousness.

A few moments later, she gradually felt that Ning Fan’s fingertips were covered with traces of cold qi and was drawing something on her back.

She had no idea what Ning Fan was doing. The only thing she knew was that her body was feeling a little stranger than usual when Ning Fan touched her in that manner...

From feeling fearful and scared in the beginning, she slowly began to feel relaxed and wonderful.

In the past, she thought life and death no longer mattered to her, just like how Xu Qiuling felt when she first met Ning Fan.

At this very moment, however, she suddenly had a strong desire to continue living. She did not want to die. She wanted to be protected and cared for by someone like this forever.

Without noticing how long it had been, the pill within her mouth had already been assimilated into her body.

Her eyes became hazy. Drowsiness slowly came over her as her consciousness slowly slipped away and her breathing became slower and more gentle.

“Alright. It’s done...” Not knowing how long had passed, Ning Fan completely helped her absorb the medicinal power.

She responded lightly and she fell into a deep sleep right after that.

Ning Fan helped put the blanket on her and caressed her snow-white hair. With a warm smile, he silently left her boudoir.

This feeble young lady had a stubbornness that seeps deep into her bones, just like Ning Fan in the past.

...

Feng Xueyan’s matter had temporarily come to an end.

Inside the guest house, Ning Fan began to prepare for his trip to the Mist Horn Clan.

He handed over the Void Inquiry Pill to Yue Lingkong which made her feel extremely touched. For this trip to the Mist Horn Clan, she probably could not go with him since she needed to be in secluded meditation in order to advance to the Void Inquiry Stage.

Besides, Ning Fan had given Xu Qiuling a Divine Transformation Realm Dao Fruit. It, of course, was not as precious as a Void Inquiry Pill but it showed that Ning Fan was not biased towards anyone.

In the dead of night, Ning Fan and Xu Qiuling faced each other fully naked. He helped her smooth out her immortal veins and stabilize her primordial spirit. Then, after a sensual lovemaking session, he helped her assimilate the Divine Transformation Realm Dao Fruit.

After consuming the Divine Transformation Realm Dao Fruit, Xu Qiuling whose cultivation base was currently at the Half-Step Divine Transformation Realm would break through to the Divine Transformation Realm anytime now.

Ning Fan left behind many pills for her which could increase her chances of successfully achieving her advancement. If Xu Qiuling wants to complete her advancement, she could consume the pills and enter into seclusion whenever she wanted.

Since both Yue Lingkong and Xu Qiuling needed to start their secluded cultivation, they naturally could not accompany Ning Fan in his upcoming trip.

Hence, Ning Fan also asked Fen Chi to stay behind with the two of them. When he realized that he had given something to the other two, Fen Chi would probably feel sad if he did not give anything to her too.

She might just be his devil concubine in name, but he still could not be unfair to her.

Therefore, he also left some pills that could enhance one’s cultivation base once consumed for her. Perhaps it could allow her to speed up her progress in achieving the Mid Divine Transformation Realm.

After that, Ning Fan left the Cold Northern Country and the Devil Ice Sea Domain alone. He dashed straight towards the direction of the Mist Horn Clan’s base without stopping along the way.

In this trip to the Mist Horn Clan’s auction, the medicinal ingredient he needed to purchase to concoct the pills for the Eight Ancestors was forty thousand years old devil marjoram.

A tuft of forty thousand years old devil marjoram were usually sold at fifty million immortal jade.

Ning Fan requested an advance payment of one billion immortal jade from the Giant Devil Clan. Other than the expenses needed for purchasing the required spiritual herbs, he could spend the rest of the money however he wants. If he has some left, he would have to return it to the Giant Devil Clan.

However, this wasn’t Ning Fan’s money. He was obviously not going to help the Giant Devil Clan save money. His plan was to spend the Eight Ancestors’ money for his own benefit. This was Ning Fan’s attitude towards life.

The Mist Horn Clan was located at the eastern sea domain of the Giant Devil Clan. On his way to the Mist Horn Clan, he could reach the Ghost Eye Clan first by just taking a detour.

The two remaining devil statue slates were being kept within the forbidden areas of the two clans.

Euphemistically, the reason why Ning Fan was headed for the Mist Horn Clan was to acquire spiritual herbs. The truth, however, was to make a plan for stealing both the slates of the two clans in one go.

“Since it’s just on the same route, I can drop by at the Ghost Eye Clan first and then head to the Mist Horn Clan to purchase the spiritual herbs... Last time, when the Pill Sovereign warned the Ghost Eye Clan, he mentioned the name ‘You Guihou’... You Guihou... He was the former Void Fragmentation Realm expert of the Ghost Eye Clan and was once the overlord of the Endless Sea. However, he was eventually defeated by the Thunder Sovereign.”

“During the last private conversation I had with Yi Yunzi, I’ve asked questions regarding You Guihou... That was when I found out that the Thunder Sovereign had only defeated You Guihou and suppressed his forces without eradicating his existence completely... That You Guihou has mastered a secret technique called the Secluded Ghost Spirit Severance. For ordinary people, it’s already impressive enough if they manage to cultivate a second primordial spirit. This man, on the other hand, has not only formed a third or a fourth but a hundred primordial spirits of his own.”

“The Thunder Sovereign has eliminated 99 of You Guihou’s one hundred primordial spirits, only leaving him with his last primordial spirit. With that, he managed to preserve 1% of his original strength. Taking his grievous injuries into consideration, his remaining primordial spirit is probably just at the Void Pierce Stage. According to the information Yi Yunzi provided, this Void Pierce Stage primordial spirit of You Guihou has produced another 9 Void Glimpse Stage clones and he is preparing to use his surviving primordial spirit to devour the nine of them to regain his Absolute Void Stage cultivation base...”

“If this You Guihou were at his best, I will doubtlessly be afraid of him. Currently, however, he is in a half-dead condition. Besides, I have the Heaven Deceiving Cloak for me to use when I sneak into the Ghost Eye Clan later. That being so, there’s no need to be scared of him.”

“The third slate is easily within my reach. Then, I’ll go for the fourth slate. As for what I should do now, I need to gather more information about the Ghost Eye Clan...”

Ning Fan’s eyes became stern. The sea domain of the Ghost Eye Clan was already right before his eyes.

He turned into a ray of flowing light and dove one million zhang* (3.33m per zhang) beneath the ocean.

On the seabed, there was a devil country emanating a thick ghostly qi in the distance.

Many devil cultivators came and went into the country. Ning Fan was not willing to draw any attention from them. Thus, he immediately turned invisible and moved swiftly towards the country.

Somewhere far away, groups of cultivators who were wearing haughty and arrogant expressions were escorting many slaves towards the clan.

Among these slaves, there were men and women as well as righteous and devil cultivators.

These slaves had all been captured from the External Endless Sea by the cultivators of the Ghost Eye Clan.

These groups of cultivators were under the command of Gui Han who was the young lord of the Ghost Eye Clan. In the conversations among the devil cultivators, they were praising Gui Han to the skies.

Ning Fan who was under his invisibility cloak got nearer to them and stood in a hidden corner. His eyes sparkled.

Before entering the Ghost Eye Clan, I’ll make use of Gui Han’s subordinates by searching their souls and memories.

When he was about to act, he was suddenly stunned. His face made a meaningful smile all of a sudden.

He had actually noticed an old friend of his among the group of slaves. He was an old friend from Yue Country.

This person was once considered as one of the top strongest experts of Yue Country. He had even interacted with Ning Fan before during the first auction Ning Fan participated in. It was beyond Ning Fan’s expectation that he would meet him like this at such a place.

The Gold Core Realm old monster who was high and aloof in the past was nothing worth mentioning at all to the current Ning Fan.

Things had changed with the passage of time. Their statuses had undergone great changes after everything that had happened.

He was Yue Country’s old ancestor, Qin Ziyu. Both of his hands and legs were being restrained by heavy metal chains. He was crying and mourning along the way.

Tragedy. It really was a tragedy. He, a dignified old ancestor of a low grade cultivation country, was just trying to head to the Lost World Palace in the External Endless Sea to form his nascent soul... How come when he had just set foot in the External Sea, he strayed on someone else’s path and was made into a slave.

It was embarrassing! It was just too embarrassing! Not only did he fail in forming his nascent soul, his reputation and life were now ruined completely.

Qin Ziyu might be deemed as an old ancestor in a small place like Yue Country. But in the Endless Sea, however, he literally was only a tiny shrimplet among a sea of shrimps, a creature too insignificant to even cause a ripple in the water.

Looking at each of the Nascent Soul Realm cultivators of the Ghost Eye Clan giving off vigorous qi and the Divine Transformation Realm old monster who was leading the group, Qin Ziyu wanted to cry but had no more tears to shed.

In Yue Country, a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator was a legend. In the Endless Sea, however, Divine Transformation Realm experts were a common sight. If he had known earlier that the devil cultivators of the Endless Sea were so strong, he would not have come here to complete his breakthrough.

While he was regretting his choice of coming to the External Endless Sea, a heavy tremor impacted the deep ocean all of a sudden, as if heaven and earth were trembling.

The shadow of a young man in white robes suddenly appeared before the devil cultivators of the Ghost Eye Clan, blocking their path.

The appearance of that white-robed man was too strange.

Qin Ziyu was walking at the front of the group of slaves. When he saw the face of the young man who had just appeared, he was startled at first, finding that this man was rather familiar to him. Right after that, his jaw dropped slightly and his eyes widened so broadly that his eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets.

“N-Ning Fan! This man is the husband of the Sect Master of the Sinister Sparrow Sect and the Lord of Seven Apricot City – Ning Fan!”