Grasping Evil

Chapter 250(2) Wan’er’s Intention; Preparation for Spirit Severing Realm

The mysterious man in front of him took out his camouflage under the blood-red moon and shapeshifted into a brawny man who wore a mail made from the scales of beasts.

Ning Fan recognized this man from Lu Bei’s memories. He was the person whom Lu Bei associated with when he was trying to betray the Luo Yun Tribe.

After Jing Yun was discovered by Ning Fan and overtaken by the latter with exceptional traverse technique, he felt an extreme pressure as if he was being weighed down by the weight of Mount Tai when he exchanged glances with the latter. Inwardly, he was deeply fascinated by the latter’s royal clan bloodline of a True Spirit.

It truly is the true bloodline of the royal clan as what the rumors claimed. The pressure is immense. It is mighty enough even if he is without anger…

However, Jing Yun’s lips curved into a smile in the next moment. The Lu Bei he knew in the past was definitely just a mediocre being, regardless of the latter’s innate potential or intelligence.

“You really aren’t Lu Bei! The Flame General was correct after all…”

“I have no idea what you are talking about…” Ning Fan’s expression remained unchanged. Because of the royal clan bloodline that he had awakened, many people began to suspect that Lu Bei’s identity had been changed.

However, the current Ning Fan did not think it was necessary for him to explain his true identity to the people of the Luo Yun Tribe.

He only had to prove two things. Firstly, he was a member of the demon race. Secondly, he was loyal to the Luo Yun Tribe.

And the two criteria were self-evident through his contribution to the Luo Yun’s victory in the Vast Meadow. As such, about the fact whether Ning Fan was Lu Bei or not, the Cloud General, Lu Daochen, would only turn a blind eye to it.

In other words, the mysterious man’s words failed to instill terror to Ning Fan.

“Hehe. If Fellow Daoist doesn’t understand, then it must be me who was babbling nonsense… Hehe. Brother Lu Bei, why don’t we go inside the valley and talk? The Flame General has a new mission for you…”

Jing Yun appeared to be very courteous. However, his words only invited a contemptuous smile from Ning Fan.

“I am not a three-year-old kid. Why am I going to enter the valley, knowing that a High Grade Spirit Severing Realm formation was established there while nearly a hundred Nascent Soul Realm demons are lying in wait for me there… Do you really think I am a fool?”

“Er…Hehe. I guess there is some misunderstandings, Brother Lu…”

Jing Yun’s expression became awkward, secretly feeling flabbergasted by Lu Bei’s keen foresight. The latter could even notice a High Grade Spirit Severing Realm formation that had been deliberately camouflaged.

Apparently, I can’t use the harsh method to acquire his royal clan bloodline.

Never mind. For the time being, I will first pass the mission from the Flame General to him. Once he finishes the mission, I will come up with another plan to seize his bloodline!

Ning Fan was longing for the Demon Marshal’s blood while countless Spirit Severing Realm demons were yearning for his royal clan bloodline.

“This jade slip stores the mission assigned by the Flame General. After you’ve gathered the item needed, you will then be qualified to join our Pure Flame Tribe. Aside from that, you will be promoted to become the Demon General of the Southern Light City!” Jing Yun clapped and a ray of fiery light shot towards Ning Fan. The jade slip was enveloped within.

However, the ray of fiery light which was comparable to a full-strike of a Spirit Severing Realm expert was deflected by Ning Fan with a flick of his sleeve.

After receiving the jade slip, he straight away demanded for his reward without even glancing at it.

“I want one hundred tuft of the ten thousand-year-old Blue Flame Grass!”

“This…Fine! But it’s better if you look at the mission first… At the day you accomplish the mission, I will bring what you want in the Luo Yun Province.

“You don’t have to worry when I should look at the mission. Goodbye…”

Ning Fan did not even give him a polite gesture when he vanished in a column of smoke.

After he left, Jing Yun’s expression turned gloomy. He waved his hand and the Nascent Soul Realm demons who hid in the valley revealed themselves.

“This man is alert and observant, but also arrogant at the same time. He seems to have forgotten his respect towards me. How dare he behave so rudely? Hmmph! Asking for reward from me without even taking a glance on the mission, huh?! But he still managed to see through it after all. Even so, little did he know that the significance of this mission can’t be compared with just one hundred tufts of Blue Flame Grass. But why does he want the Blue Flame Grass for…? Fine. I’ll let the Honorable Demon General to decide on this matter. Let’s leave for now… This is the border of the Luo Yun Tribe and Lie Tu Tribe. If we are found, it might stir up some troubles…”

…

In the Demon General’s residence, Ning Fan stayed outside of his room. Smiling mockingly, he summoned the Separation Slayer Sword from his glabella and hacked on the jade slip.

Just as the sword collided with the fiery-red jade slip, the jade slip emitted a buzzing sound, exposing a hidden trace of fiery-red demon intent which was burnt to nothingness by that cut.

The fiery-red demon sense stored a Late Spirit Severing Realm strike from the Flame General. It was not for taking Ning Fan’s life but to plant a demon seal in Ning Fan once he carelessly activates the jade slip so that he could be manipulated.

The reasons why the Flame General went through lots of trouble to entrap Ning Fan was of course because of his royal clan bloodline as well as ensuring the accomplishment of the duty without fail.

It was exactly why Ning Fan did not even cup his fists to Jing Yun when he left. As the saying goes, why should one be courteous to the person who comes with ill intentions.

However, it also showed that the Pure Flame Tribe seemed to have underestimated Ning Fan… Did they really think such a trivial technique was enough to subdue Ning Fan?

As the trace of fire sense was destroyed, the jade slip gradually lost its color and returned to its original appearance.

Ning Fan spread his spirit sense and studied its contents. The mission assigned to him was actually to get closer to Lu Daochen and secretly steal the ancient scroll which contains a part of the map of the World Passage to the Third World. It provided lots of details to him so much so that even the possible places where the scroll was hidden were mentioned.

“Interesting. This Pure Flame Tribe might not worth it for me to befriend. But unexpectedly, they actually gave me the information about the map. Furthermore, if I defer the accomplishment date, that Jing Yun will surely bring parts of the Blue Flame Grass to put pressure on me as he has already known that it won’t work to urge me with force. He will certainly resort to enticing me with the promise of a reward… Probably, he might give me 50 tufts of Blue Flame Grass first or perhaps just 30 tufts. Pitifully, none of them know that I only need 10 tufts of grass. If I ask for 10 tufts of Blue Flame Grass from him, it might be too light to be a reward and might raise their suspicion…”

“The Flame General, Lu Jiefen1. This person must never be underestimated. Perhaps he has noticed that I am not the real Lu Bei. The fire sense he used to ambush me isn’t drawn from his Sea of Consciousness. It is formed using a demon technique. This is because he is worried that he might be injured after the sense is destroyed by me… I suppose he even expects that I might possess the capabilities of killing a Late Spirit Severing Realm being… Since he is able to come up with that conjecture, the Honorable Demon General of the Luo Yun Tribe might also be able to do so. It’s just that Lu Daochen doesn’t seem to harbor malice towards me judging from the current situation. Perhaps, he has the intention of pulling me to his side… That concludes one thing – it is not important whether I am the true Lu Bei or a fake one. The key is whether I am beneficial to the Luo Yun Tribe or not!”

Ning Fan muttered to himself. Conjuring a grey flame in his palm, he incinerated the jade slip and entered his room.

He remained beside the bed, waiting for Lu Wan’er to awaken.

Apparently, this woman must have something to say to him since she purposely waited for him within this room.

The dawn arrived. Some swallows flew past the curtains.

Lu Wan’er rubbed her sleepy eyes and stretched her body with a yawn. Just as she lowered her hands, her thin clothes slipped down from her shoulders, revealing the outline of her well-developed breasts above her chest. She pulled her messy hair back and shoved the blanket to the end of the bed.

However, just as her vision got clearer, she noticed that Ning Fan’s eyes were staring fixedly at her. Immediately, all her drowsiness was gone and she shrieked in embarrassment.

“Ah!!! You shameless Lu Bei!”

“How am I shameless? Did I kiss you or touch you? In fact, during the time you helped me change my clothes, I didn’t even blush when you saw the entirety of my naked body… Furthermore, I believe that I haven’t even taken advantage of you even once. On the contrary, it was you who had molested me to a very great extent…” Ning Fan calmly replied.

“You… *Puff*…” Lu Wan’er was ashamed and annoyed at the same time. But as soon as she saw the sluggish look on Ning Fan’s face, she could not resist the urge to laugh.

So this is the other side of him. I didn’t expect that he is such a sentimental guy…

I thought he was a man who only knows how to kill…

“Since Mistress Wan’er has been staying almost every night in my room, I believe you must have something to tell me.”

“Yea. I heard my brother said that you have been called in by my master to participate in the qualifying test for Demon Generals. I actually want to…er”

Her inner thought: I want to go with you, but I am afraid that you will reject me again… It has been a long time since I went there. Besides, I haven’t paid a formal visit to my master for quite a while. Even if I miss him a lot, my brother who is assigned to defend the borderline of the tribe does not allow me to go. The Demon Generals aren’t supposed to leave their duty privately. Therefore, there wasn’t a chance for me to go there. But even my brother was ordered by the Cloud General himself to escort you to the province now, he doesn’t allow me to go too. He wants to leave me to guard the Northern Desert City alone… I want to leave with you!

With the help of the Yin Yang Locket, Ning Fan could listen to the woman’s thoughts with ease.

Since she intends to leave with me, it wouldn’t be a hassle to bring her along. In a way, it’s a repayment to her kind intentions of giving me the pill back then.

Ning Fan thought to himself.

“I heard that Mistress Wan’er is the best spirit augmentation master of the city. Is it true?” Ning Fan changed the topic of the conversation.

“Yea. My spirit augmentation skills have attained the Earth Profound Realm. I learned all of them from my master. Although my master’s cultivation level isn’t the best among the nine Honorable Demon Generals, his knowledge, wisdom, spirit augmentation techniques and also pill refining techniques are all at the peak…”

As she talked about her spirit augmentation technique, she literally forgot her shyness and became highly spirited.

“If that’s the case, I have a magical treasure that needs to undergo spirit augmentation. I wonder if Mistress Wan’er is willing to join me on the journey to the province? Of course, if Mistress is willing, I will persuade your brother to stay and defend the city. After all, without the Demon General, the defenses of the city will weaken. If the members of the Lie Tu Tribe invades the city, the consequences would be unthinkable… So, Wan’er, are you willing?”

“I do! No. I mean I am willing to perform spirit augmentation on your treasure.”

Her face flushed red and her heartbeat raced.

Because Lu Bei addressed her as Wan’er…

The light of the early morning sun penetrated through the curtains, brightening up the entire room. They stood facing each other, looking squarely into each other’s eyes.

To cultivators, lots of famous experts never feared to kill, to become devils nor to turn the whole world upside-down. The deepest fear they had was to be in a complicated relationship with women. Some of them worried about losing their virgin bodies while some of them shut themselves out and remained solitary for the rest of their lives. Everything they feared or worried boiled down to one single element – love.

Love was the hardest test to every cultivator’s state of mind.

To Ning Fan, however, he didn’t fear love because he dared to love as well as hate.

In the past, he didn’t sever his emotions in becoming a devil but in fact, he became a devil because of love. If a person could even forgo his or her love, it would virtually be pointless for them to continue cultivating the path of devils.

Although “Divine Transformation” and “Devil Transformation” was just a word different from each other, the true distinction between them was whether the cultivators embrace their feelings or not. To put it in more accurate terms, it was whether they chose the path of love or the path of heartlessness.

When it comes to facing the obstacle which was feared the most by cultivators, Ning Fan was always frank and honest with himself. He acted decisively and never once allowed himself to drown in confusion. With that state of mind, it would not be hard for him to undergo Devil Transformation!

“This woman is an excellent spirit augmentation master… It should be fine to entrust her in augmenting the Power Drain ability onto my Spirit Crushing Whip…”

“Besides, along the journey, I want my Separation Slayer Sword to break through to the grade of a Profound Heaven Spiritual Treasure…”