Grasping Evil

Chapter 204(1): Rampaging Mo Nan!

His eyes were fixed on the young man who suddenly appeared without a sound like how a ghost would, making his face dark. On his gloomy face was also a trace of fear deeply hidden inside him.

Zhou Ming… He was the killer of Xiang Liao’s brother… He was the powerful devil who could kill a Peak Nascent Soul Realm expert!

Why is he here?!

Such immense Violent Qi… This man is just an Early Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. There’s no mistake… Can he really kill a Peak Nascent Soul Realm expert?

The Violent Qi which their enemy didn’t conceal made each and every one of the Nascent Soul Realm experts of the Xiang Clan to feel anxious.

Even Xiang Liao was shocked inside… Despite the countless carnage he had been through, he felt that he could still not match Zhou Ming!

Dread filled his heart. The atmosphere of the hall turned sober. After contemplating all the possible scenarios he could think of, his lips curved into a smirk.

So what if he killed Luofei? I, too, possess the power to kill him!

As a matter of fact, no one knew that Xiang Liao had reached the final bottleneck of reaching Spirit Severing Realm!

Similarly, no one knew that his plan of annihilating the Pill Cauldron Gate was actually an excuse for him to snatch all the human cauldrons and Dao Fruit so that he could prepare to break through his bottleneck!

Once he attains the Spirit Severing Realm, the External Endless Sea would have a new Spirit Severing Realm expert other than the ten Spirit Severing Realm experts of the top ten sects and the three Spirit Severing Realm rogue cultivators! The Xiang Clan would become one of the most powerful forces in the External Endless Sea. And then, he would be able to occupy some of the islands in the External Endless Sea and rule them!

At least, this was the aspect that Zhou Ming was not a match for him!

He, Xiang Liao, was a Peak Nascent Soul Realm expert that was close to breaking through to the Spirit Severing Realm expert!

“Zhou Ming… Hmmph! You sure you want to help the Pill Cauldron Gate?! I have yet to get even with you for killing my brother and now you still want to make trouble for yourself for helping them?! Hahaha, you’re being ridiculous! Do you think our Xiang Clan is weak and is easy to bully? Being unable to distinguish between cheese and chalk is the fastest way to get yourself killed in the External Endless Sea! If you’re sensible enough, then get lost!”

Xiang Liao no longer put Ning Fan within his eyes!

“You want me to get lost? With just you? It’s not enough!” Ning Fan displayed a contemptuous smile at him.

“You’re courting death!”

Xiang Liao was infuriated and took a big step forward. The aura emanated from his eyes became more intimidating and the primordial power around his body surged wildly as if he was a celestial being from the heavens!

As his aura intensified, it spread all over the auction hall, increasing the air pressure as if the atmosphere itself was being compressed by the power of heaven and earth. Everyone at the scene began to suffocate and gasped for air. Those who know the situation were greatly shocked.

Judging from Xiang Liao’s aura, it seems he has reached a state where his power has merged with his heart. In other words, this Xiang Liao has discovered the bottleneck of the Spirit Severing Realm! Rather than saying that he’s a Peak Nascent Soul Realm expert, it would be more accurate to consider him as… a Half-Step Spirit Severing Realm expert!

When he took another step forward, it was as if his foot was stomping on everyone’s Hearts of Dao, echoing a loud bang!

Meanwhile, the other sixteen Nascent Soul Realm experts of the Xiang Clan held their magical treasures in their hands and readied their battle stance. They planned to make a joint attack on Ning Fan after their old ancestor makes a move to attack him, killing him in a single blow!

Xiang Liao opened his mouth wide and nine tiny cauldrons reflecting blood light flew out from inside it. As they soared into the sky, each of every one of them enlarged, turning into magical treasures that emitted the might equivalent to a High Supreme Grade magical treasure. Anyone who stood below them could feel a pressure like that of Mount Tai falling down on them. Their power was peerless!

Every Gold Core Realm expert at the scene spurted blood. Their expressions hardened in shock and were all rendered gravely injured! Although they were just indirectly hit by the residual power from the battle of magical techniques, the qi and flow of blood within their bodies were disrupted. None of them had the thought of staying any longer in the auction! Zhou Ming truly was powerful but this Xiang Liao seemed to be stronger than him… If the nine gigantic cauldrons smashes onto the ground, a thousand li within the oasis would be flattened!

Only Nascent Soul Realm experts dared to stay and watch the battle. However, all of them prepared their magical treasures to defend themselves. Within their minds, they were speculating what the outcome would be of the battle between Zhou and Xiang.

All of them thought that Zhou Ming would definitely lose as Xiang Liao was already a Half-Step Spirit Severing Realm expert. The total magic power he had was at least 5000 units, making him undefeatable by any ordinary Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts! Aside from that, the nine cauldrons were mysteriously powerful and no one had any idea of what their full potential were…Anyhow, it would still be extremely difficult for Xiang Liao to kill Zhou Ming. Everyone was curious why Zhou Ming did not run away knowing that he himself could not match Xiang Liao… But none of them urged Zhou Ming to flee. To them, the best result would be Zhou Ming going all-out and hurting Xiang Liao while suffering grievous injuries. The seventy Nascent Soul Realm experts would then take advantage of the situation and rob him of what he had!

They were expecting Zhou Ming’s defeat!

However, a few seconds later, everything had gone out of their expectations! Their intentions to take advantage of him were bound to be only wishful thoughts!

Ning Fan made a move at the same time the experts from the Xiang Clan launched their attacks!

He took a step in mid-air but what others saw was just his afterimage. Within an instant, he had made nine steps in total. Every step he made was comparable to pounding on heaven and earth, making the entire oasis to quake uncontrollably. On the ninth step, a sword of heaven and earth emanating an overbearing aura sent out a shockwave spreading raging sword qi in every direction. Xiang Liao’s Half-Step Spirit Severing Realm aura was dispersed!

In his eyes, the so-called Half-Step Spirit Severing Realm aura was not even worth mentioning!

The other Nascent Soul Realm attackers were taken by surprise. 11 Early Nascent Soul Realm experts spat out blood and fell down on the ground, critically injured! Among them, 4 Mid Nascent Soul Realm experts and 1 Late Nascent Soul Realm expert managed to withstand his attack using their own respective defensive techniques with great effort. Despite that, each of them looked haggard. Their plan to make a combined attack on Ning Fan was forcefully stopped! Now, all the old monsters of Xiang Clan who had always behaved superciliously gasped in astonishment!

As for Xiang Liao, his face was also filled with surprise. At his current cultivation realm, he only managed to barely comprehend the power of heaven and earth. To wield a sword congealed from the power of heaven and earth, it was absolutely out of his capabilities! He never expected that Zhou Ming could summon a sword from the invisible power of heaven and earth in his ninth step! This kind of technique… He only witnessed it before from genuine Spirit Severing Realm experts!

Apart from surprise, his eyes flashed with envy and hatred. He envied Ning Fan for having the ability to display a Spirit Severing Realm technique while being only at the Early Nascent Soul Realm!

Ning Fan knew what Xiang Liao was thinking, especially his hatred and jealousy. The next second, cold light flashed across Ning Fan’s eyes and the lightning star on his glabella twinkled. A trace of blood lightning, carrying heavenly might, shot out to Xiang Liao’s eyes and blinded him for a moment, distracting his focus from attacking Ning Fan with the nine cauldrons!

When the blinding flash faded and his vision regained its clarity, Ning Fan was already holding a long whip in his hand.

The red lightning whip made Ning Fan look like he was not holding a long whip but …heaven’s lightning bolt! He was like the master of lightning!

Every strike he made was fast, hitting the nine cauldrons directly. Every strike caused lightning bolts to flash in the blue sky!

The nine cauldrons were as heavy as mountains. However, the Lightning Whip was imbued with the red lightning from the Heavenly Tribulation that carried the might of the heavens. Facing such a powerful whip, what could the nine cauldrons do?

The magical treasures were actually forged after the Immortal Treasure, Nine Cauldrons. In Ning Fan’s eyes, however, the treasures were flawed.

With the insight of an Immortal Emperor, while these nine cauldrons are of Supreme Grade, they had some defects. It would not be difficult to break them!

Weak, too weak… Blindly adding unnecessary spiritual minerals into the magical treasures in order to pursue higher grades. The outcome of the fusion is similar to trying to draw a tiger but ending up with the likeness of a dog. It sure is a laughingstock!

“I’ll crush you!”

Continuous strikes of the whip were whipped out, carrying lightning with them!

On the ninth strike, the cauldrons cracked!

Everything seemed to have happened in just a short instant. They could only see nine shadow whips striking the cauldrons. The impact of the strikes warded off the pressure from the nine cauldrons and sent them all flying into the sky in return!

Every strike of the whip were accurately struck on the weak points of cauldrons. Countless cracks formed on the surface of the cauldrons whenever a strike hit. The spirituality of the magical treasures reduced greatly and broke into pieces!

The nine cauldrons were crushed!

Xiang Liao lost his composure when he saw the complete set of High Supreme Grade magical treasures, the Nine Cauldrons, got destroyed so easily by the young man and his whip!

This can’t be happening! His whip is only a Mid Supreme Grade magical treasure, not a Peak Supreme Grade treasure. Why does his whip contain such power!

Before he could figure out an answer, something happened which he could have never imagined!

When the nine cauldrons disintegrated into nothing, nine flashes of blood lightning like those of the Heavenly Tribulation found their way into Xiang Liao’s dantian. Without giving him time to react, each of them bombarded his Nascent Soul. At that very moment, Xiang Liao felt cold fear ran through his bones and the fine hair on his arms stood up!

His Nascent Soul was meticulously protected since he wore spiritual armor to protect his Nascent Souls. However, the defensive armor only managed to block the first flash of lightning and then got pulverized. The remaining eight pounded on his Nascent Soul in succession without rest. The tiny face on the miniature Nascent Soul had the same expression as Xiang Liao - eyes wide in horror!

What are these lightning?! My Peak Profound Jade Spiritual Armor can’t even withstand the first flash of lightning!

“Now I get it! This must be the secret art of attacking the Nascent Soul! It’s the special lightning technique of the Zhou Clan in the Internal Endless Sea! You really are from that clan! Detestable! Truly detestable! My Nascent Soul is already half-step away from becoming a Primordial Spirit…Even if it is struck by the lightning of the Zhou Clan, it is impossible to… Argh!”

His Nascent Soul was now at its initial stage of becoming illusory, fusing the power of heaven and earth into it. He was at the verge of sacrificing his Nascent Soul into a bodiless Primordial Spirit, fortifying its defenses for more than a hundred times. In this manner, he wouldn’t have to be afraid of the Zhou Clan’s Nascent Soul Realm secret art of lightning pounding on his Nascent Soul!

But what happened next was still beyond his anticipation!

When the second blood red lightning blasted on his Nascent Soul, it inflicted a huge damage on him, making him cough a mouthful of light golden blood belonging to his Nascent Soul. His aura was deteriorating!

Xiang Liao hurriedly retreated, planning to weaken the lightning using the power of heaven and earth. However, before he could hold his feet steadily, the third flash of lightning struck!

Each of the strikes caused him to stagger a few steps backward, aggravating his injuries!

Once the last flash of lightning struck, his face was deathly pale and was coughing out blood incessantly. Doubtlessly, he was in a grievous condition!

He was completely bewildered that this blood red lightning whip was even stronger and ferocious than the secret art of the Zhou Clan!

What kind of lightning is that?! It’s not the lightning casted using magic techniques! Instead, it’s like the lightning that was forcibly taken from the Heavenly Tribulation!

Wait… Heavenly Tribulation?

When the two words surfaced in Xiang Liao’s mind, his eyes glinted in understanding.

*sucks in cold breath*

He now understood!

The reason that Zhou Ming’s Lightning Whip was so powerful was because he refined it using the lightning of the Heavenly Tribulation!

For common cultivators to experience the Heavenly Tribulation, they would either hide themselves from it or resist it face to face. But this Zhou Ming was even more fierce, he faced the Heavenly Tribulation of Lightning and obtained the lightning element to refine his weapon!

He is a true devil cultivator that chose the Path of Defiance! Cultivators like him only exist in ancient times!

Xiang Liao did not even have the slightest arrogance left in him! Now, he saw Ning Fan as the most formidable enemy in his life. He must not fight him!

At the face of Ning Fan, his pride as the old ancestor of the Xiang Clan became insignificant!

Face the Heavenly Tribulation and control its lightning… This person, I must not offend him!

“Let’s attack together!” His voice carried a hint of panic. He intended to order his subordinates to surround Ning Fan, giving him more time to flee. But the sixteen Nascent Soul Realm experts stood straight at their original spots like wooden puppets. None of them obeyed his order!

“Seal!” Ning Fan lifted his finger and performed Body Seal!

A silver light shone on the tip of his finger, forming a light circle which rippled in every direction, separating into innumerable threadlike rays of light. The limbs of the Nascent Soul Realm experts from the Xiang Clan were bound tightly, restricting their movement!

Shockingly, Xiang Liao discovered that his body was tied up by countless fine silver threads which were difficult to be seen with the naked eyes. It was why he could not move a single hair of his body! Even if he mustered all his strength to struggle, it would at least take him a single breath of time to break free from this technique!

The only way to free myself on the spot is no other than… self-sacrifice!

When everyone was sealed, Ning Fan changed his whip into the Separation Slayer Sword. He raised the sword to eye level and drew an illusory circle in the air!

This circle was like the circle of life. Smooth and swiftly, the circle was formed and a powerful sword qi surged on the tip of his sword. At the same time, every sealed expert including Xiang Liao felt excruciating pain in their hearts!

This was the Fourth Sword of his Nascent Soul, Heart Drawing Sword!