Grasping Evil

Chapter 429: Slaughter the Tower (5)

Translator: GE_Team Editor: GE_Team

After Zhu Feng’s death, Ning Fan wiped out the eleventh floor of the lightning tower.

As for the ten Void Refinement Realm experts who had come to seek their deaths, four of them died after they had been surrounded by Ning Fan, Lei Shiyi and his men and suffered a violent retaliation from them.

Only six of them survived but Lei Shiyi had turned them into spiritual puppets with a lot of effort.

All of their primordial lightning had been extracted and given to Ning Fan. After eliminating the lightning lord of the eleventh floor, Ning Fan had already gathered 11 pieces of bamboo leaves. It was more than enough to save Hong Yi.

Since Lei Shiyi maintained the cultivation bases of the spiritual puppets, he naturally could not obtain the lightning jades that would form after their deaths.

However, the value of a piece of golden-grade lightning jade was not as high as a spiritual puppet to the current Lei Shiyi.

After eliminating Zhu Feng, he would be the lightning lord of the eleventh floor from today onwards. In order to rule the eleventh floor, he would naturally need strong military strength.

These spiritual puppets were refined from Void Glimpse Stage experts. Thus, their cultivation bases were slightly lower than the Void Glimpse Stage but higher than the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm. It was similar to an ‘illusory’ cultivation realm.

Only undead spirits could manipulate this kind of spiritual puppets. Besides, they could not be brought outside of this lightning tower. Therefore, it was normal for Ning Fan not to desire these spiritual puppets. Moreover, he was not interested in them at all and was more than willing to let Lei Shiyi have them.

The group of ten Void Refinement Realm experts and one thousand Divine Transformation Realm cultivators who had come to “seek their deaths” had contributed 1000 traces of Divine Transformation Realm primordial lightning and 10 traces of Void Refinement Realm primordial lightning. Ning Fan devoured every last one of them.

The quality of his lightning armor improved by quite a lot. Once he devours another 2000 traces of Divine Transformation Realm primordial lightning or 20 traces of Void Refinement Realm primordial lightning, his lightning armor would then break through to the third level of the gold grade.

In the world of mortals, some countries prospered and flourished from wars and battles. As for Ning Fan and Lei Shiyi, they had also expanded their forces and increased their cultivation bases due to this battle.

After activating the teleportation formation, the group of cultivators was transferred to the twelfth floor of the lightning tower one after another, sprinting all the way up.

The twelfth floor was a world full of clouds and mist. Each of the floating clouds in the air were lightning clouds.

There were many undead spirits and ferocious beasts hiding amidst the lightning clouds. Usually, every single undead spirit who had come to the twelfth floor would be extra cautious whenever they travelled across the sea of clouds.

Even Lei Shiyi had to exercise restraint whenever he occasionally went to the twelfth floor in the past.

Since Ning Fan was taking the lead this time, all of them unleashed all of their aura forces. Lei Shiyi and his men also no longer exercised restraint and marched through the sea of clouds in a domineering manner.

Any experts who blocked their path or ferocious beasts that tried to ambush them were all killed without mercy.

In the lightning palace on the sea of clouds of the twelfth floor, the lightning lord, Huang Yunzi, wore a grim expression.

He had already heard of the news about the annihilation of the eleventh floor and had also heard that Zhu Feng died in the hands of a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm junior. As for that junior, he’s the one whom King Ying Long had commanded his subordinates to hunt down. It has been rumored that his strength was equivalent to that of a Void Inquiry Stage expert and he could even put up a fight against a Void Pierce Stage expert.

“Ridiculous! It’s absolutely impossible for a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm cultivator to possess Void Inquiry Stage strength, much less the Void Pierce Stage!” Huang Yunzi had always refused to believe these rumors.

He had refused to obey King Ying Long’s command and did not send anyone to the lower floors to pursue Ning Fan.

He could not believe that Ning Fan was capable enough to kill Zhu Feng but he still believed that Lei Shiyi was not someone weak.

He had met Lei Shiyi before. Based on the impression he had of him, the latter was someone who hid his actual strength. Thus, it was not strange for him to be able to eliminate Zhu Feng and rule the eleventh floor.

Huang Yunzi was a Void Inquiry Stage expert but he was reluctant to yield to King Ying Long just like many other Void Inquiry Stage experts.

He sent out more than ten Half-Step Void Refinement Realm cultivators to secretly find out the truth about Lei Shiyi and his men.

If Lei Shiyi and his group really had the strength to rebel against King Ying Long, he would be more than willing to let them pass through the twelfth floor directly without hindering them so that they could get to King Ying Long even faster.

The information that was brought back by the spies he had sent out was exactly the same.

The strength of Lei Shiyi’s group was indeed not weak. However, the leader of this group of experts was not Lei Shiyi but Ning Fan instead.

“How is this possible? Judging from Lei Shiyi’s shrewdness, how is it possible for him to listen to the commands of a Divine Transformation Realm junior for no reason...? Could it be that that junior really has strength comparable to that of a Void Inquiry Stage expert? That is plain bullshit!”

The darkness in the sky had yet to completely fade away as there was still a faint crescent moon hanging in the sky. It was close to daybreak.

At this moment, outside the lightning palace of the sea of clouds, rumbling noises echoed across the air and the earth and mountains also shook. Then, a clear and loud voice carrying a frightening baleful qi resounded into the lightning palace from afar.

“I am Zhou Ming. I intend to borrow Lightning Lord Huang Yun’s teleportation formation for our own use. I hope that the Lightning Lord can ignore the rules and make an exception just this once to accommodate this junior!”

That voice revealed Ning Fan’s Half-Step Void Refinement Realm qi which did not seem to be something that deserved Huang Yunzi’s attention.

However, the intensity of the baleful qi in this voice was beyond his imagination! Just as the voice entered his ears, Huang Yunzi felt layers of illusions appear in his vision. All of the scenes of these illusions were bloody and gruesome and he could see a flowing sea of blood flooding mountains!

“How many Void Refinement Realm old monsters had this young man killed?! Why does he have such a terrifying baleful qi?!”

Huang Yunzi could not sit still any longer.

There was no need to find out about Ning Fan’s background. Huang Yunzi had already deeply realized that Ning Fan was someone he must never offend.

Huang Yunzi might be a Void Inquiry Stage expert but he was still slightly inferior compared to Zhu Feng. He could not afford to offend Ning Fan!

“Men! Pass down my command. No one is allowed to attack the members of the Myriad Treasure Pavilion. We shall let them use the teleportation formation freely. Anyone who defies my order will be executed!” Huang Yunzi commanded his subordinates in a dignified manner.

“B-But... Young Master has already led a team of cultivators to attack them. Aside from that, he claimed that he wants to kill Zhou Ming to gain some merit and obtain King Ying Long’s favor.” A Void Glimpse Stage old monster spoke with a trembling voice.

“He’s truly an evil son! I should not have adopted him in the past!”

Huang Yunzi’s expression changed greatly. He would not dare to provoke Ning Fan at all but his ‘good’ son had gone to create troubles for him instead! His so-called son was actually just an adopted son. If it wasn’t because he valued his adopted son’s family background which he could take advantage of, how would it be possible for him to keep such a foolish person as his foster son!

Without hesitation, he summoned all of the experts under him. His expression was filled with solemnity.

He did not plan to have a battle with Ning Fan but had planned on stopping his adopted son from doing so.

When Huang Yunzi hastily rushed to the teleportation formation, his heart skipped a beat as he saw Ning Fan being surrounded by two Void Glimpse Stage experts.

It’s too late!

One of the two Void Glimpse Stage experts was short while the other one was chubby. Both of them were his adopted son’s personal bodyguards. Each of them had terrifying cultivation bases of the Early Void Refinement Realm.

Behind the two Void Glimpse Stage experts stood a young man who wore a set of peach-colored robes. He had a Late Divine Transformation Realm cultivation base. His demeanor was arrogant while his peach blossom eyes carried a hint of contempt. Disdainfully, he spoke.

“Ku Da and Ku Er, both of you kill this man. When I request recognition from King Ying Long for my great service, I will record yours as well! Beware, this man is rather cunning. His concealment technique is very profound. You must not give him time to conceal himself!”

“Rest assured, Young Master! We know what to do!”

The two Void Glimpse Stage experts smiled coldly. Both of them took out a handful of silver ash which gave off a stench similar to the repulsive smell of fish and scattered it in the sky. Then, the ash turned into sparkles of silver flames and disappeared.

At the next moment, Ning Fan felt his body being marked with a trace of a fishy stench that could not be removed or neutralized.

Ning Fan’s eyes turned grim. Apparently, these two experts wanted to lock on to his position using this stench.

He did not want to cause trouble because he did not have much time. He just wanted to hurriedly get to the twenty-fourth floor and get rid of King Ying Long. Then, he could leave this lightning tower and accomplish the mission Hong Yi assigned to him.

Moreover, Yue Lingkong was also waiting for the golden leaves from Hong Yi to save her life. Ning Fan did not have the mood to waste his time here.

However, since the opponents had come to challenge him and they even wanted to kill him to gain merits, he, of course, would not tolerate it based on his personality.

“Young man, you have been marked with our ‘Fire Scale Ash’. Even if you use your concealment technique, you won’t be able to hide this stench from us. In other words, your concealment technique has already been neutralized by us. Let’s see what methods you still have to resist Void Glimpse Stage experts like us!”

Both Ku Da and Ku Er were smiling coldly, feeling rather pleased with themselves.

Lei Shiyi was greatly enraged. The two of them were indeed despicable. Once a person is stained with the Fire Scale Ash, the smell would not go away for a few days.

Even if Ning Fan goes to the thirteenth floor, he would certainly be hindered by this ash and lose the ability to conceal himself. That is to say, he would lose a means to assure his own safety.

“Fellow Daoist Zhou, I’ll deal with the two of them. You lead the group to the thirteenth floor first!” Lei Shiyi roared in anger.

“No need! I am the one they are looking for. Just two Void Glimpse Stage experts are not worth mentioning at all!”

Ning Fan’s eyes shone with a cold light which was like the twinkling of stars in the night sky. At the next moment, at the peak of the sea of clouds, ninety-nine black stars emerged one after another.

As the starlight shone upon him, Ning Fan reached out his palm and did a grabbing motion. Traces of starlight suddenly transformed into a bow of stars which emanate a dazzling black light!

As he bent the bow, heaven and earth shook!

As he drew the bowstring, a single arrow that terrified the world was formed!

Ning Fan aimed his arrow at Ku Da and Ku Er. All of a sudden, the satisfied smile on their faces faded as surprise filled them!

A look of absolute terror appeared in their eyes. They were unable to quell it!

Gasps of astonishment filled the area of ten thousand li* (500m per li).

“Starlight Healing Technique! Besides, they are the black stars from the rumors! This person has ninety-nine natal black stars protecting him. Unless there’s a Void Fragmentation Realm old monster who can destroy his stars, mere Void Refinement Realm old monsters are unable to break this person’s star technique! This person can nearly be immune to all Void Glimpse Stage attacks!”

A Void Glimpse Stage expert was extremely amazed. It was his first time witnessing the Starlight Healing Technique with his own eyes. This technique had been passed down in the ancient books of the older generations. This technique was extremely strong. Someone who possessed this technique was definitely invincible compared to the experts of his level!

“What is that bow technique?! The destructive power of that bow can cause heaven and earth to tremble, make the great momentum waver and even cause the hollow space in the skies to collapse! This old man definitely can’t withstand the might of a single arrow from that young man!”

Another Void Glimpse Stage expert felt his scalp go numb by just looking at Ning Fan’s bow and arrow. He then dismissed the intention of approaching them to stop the fight.

Huang Yunzi let out a sigh. He knew that once Ning Fan fires this arrow, both Ku Da and Ku Er would be grievously injured and suffer a regression in their cultivation bases even if they survive.

He wanted to save the two of them but he was unable to do anything at this point.

Lei Shiyi was secretly keeping an eye on him. Once he tries to intervene, Lei Shiyi would then act against him.

Aside from that, Huang Yunzi was really reluctant to offend Ning Fan. If he makes a move to save the two of them, it would be extremely difficult to reconcile with him.

While keeping an eye on Huang Yunzi, Lei Shiyi was inwardly shocked.

Even Lei Shiyi did not have the confidence of withstanding the might of Ning Fan’s arrow without suffering any injuries.

Furthermore, if Ning Fan breaks through to the Void Refinement Realm, he would be strong enough to severely injure Lei Shiyi with this arrow, even if he only has the weakest cultivation level among Void Glimpse Stage experts.

“Back then, on the eleventh floor, this young man really did not use all of his strength...” Lei Shiyi nodded and muttered to himself. However, his expression suddenly changed.

After Ning Fan drew the bowstring, he did not fire the arrow immediately. Instead, he dispersed the bow and arrow. His expression looked like he was dissatisfied with it.

“It’s not right. It isn’t the same... The reason why there’s a huge difference in destructive power between Great Emperor Mo Luo’s Star Punishing Bow and mine... is it because my version does not have devil marks?”

Ning Fan closed his eyes, recalling Mo Luo’s impressive display when he defeated Tai Su with a single arrow.

Suddenly, Ning Fan reached out with his hand and summoned the starlight to condense another bow. This time, he did not immediately pull the bowstring. He merely held the bow with one of his hands while using the other to form hand seals and performed an ancient and mysterious devil art.

All of a sudden, immense devil qi rose above the sea of clouds. Traces of devil marks condensed and imprinted themselves on the bow.

The expressions of Ku Da and Ku Er lit up.

At first, they laughed at Ning Fan. However, when they saw Ning Fan summon the black stars, condense a bow from it and pull its bowstring, they were nearly close to peeing their pants in fright.

The destructive power of that single arrow was indeed too terrifying. Even if the two of them defend against the arrow with all of their strength, they would certainly suffer severe wounds even if they survive.

Just as the two of them were prepared to go all-out to block the arrow, Ning Fan dispersed his devil bow. Now, he was condensing devil marks instead.

They did not know what the devil marks were but they inwardly thought that Ning Fan probably had yet to complete this magic technique.

“How dare you make an empty show of strength in front of us with an incomplete magic technique. You are blatantly courting death!”

The two of them no longer felt fear. Each of them formed hand seals with their ten fingers and displayed Low-Grade Mortal Void Realm magic techniques to attack Ning Fan.

“Divine Thunder of the Nine Spheres of Heaven!”

“Peak-Blasting Five Lightning Strikes!”

Layers of thunder clouds took form and trillions of golden lightning rays turned into lightning bolts which struck the earth. All of them emitted earth-shattering thunderclaps.

This was the joint attack of two Void Glimpse Stage experts. Even ordinary Void Glimpse Stage experts would find it difficult to defend against it. As for Ning Fan who was in the middle of completing his magic technique, he would probably die after being struck by the lightning bolts!

“Be careful!” Lei Shiyi’s eyes flashed with surprise and he wanted to lend Ning Fan a hand.

“Don’t interfere!”

Ning Fan did not even turn back. He made a sudden step forward and stopped condensing the devil marks. There were already ninety-nine traces of devil marks on the black star bow.

He secretly learned these devil marks from Mo Luo’s bow technique.

However, it requires the power of one’s natal stars to condense the devil marks. Since he only had 99 natal black stars, he could only condense 99 traces of black devil marks. As for Mo Luo, since he could condense one million traces of devil marks, he must possess one million natal stars.

Without a doubt, Mo Luo was a strong and ruthless expert!

However, Ning Fan would surely surpass him!

The devil marks were already completed. Ning Fan drew his bow again and condensed an arrow. The destructive power of this single arrow caused masses of black-colored star flames to rise within ten thousand li* (500m per li) on the sea of clouds.

All of these star flames were being produced from the friction in the air due to the intense magic power of the arrow.

His black hair flowed with the strong wind. His black eyes were as cold and indifferent as the night. A rush of wild and forceful aura force suddenly spread across the sea of clouds!

In the face of trillions of lightning rays, Ning Fan was lazy to even summon his lightning diagram. He directly pulled the bowstring and shot out an arrow!

As he released the bowstring, the arrow shot out leaving a perfect black line in the air. It would literally tear heaven in its path into half, ripping apart the dark sky and causing black blood to flow out from it!

The might of a single arrow made heaven bleed!

A sharp and ear-splitting screech resounded through the skies as if one thousand birds were screeching at the same time!

*Chi*

Within the sea of clouds, there seemed to be countless echoes of it. However, there was only a beam of light that lit up the world. The thunder clouds and lightning rays that the two Void Glimpse Stage cultivators displayed with all their might was pierced through by a single arrow. All of the trillions lightning rays scattered!

After being crushed by the light of the arrow, the lightning rays then burned with black star flames. Despite being intangible, the lightning rays were still burned into nothingness eventually!

Two traces of Mortal Void Realm magic techniques could not withstand the might of that single arrow at all! After Ku Da and Ku Er witnessed what happened, blood drained from their faces. The destructive power of this arrow was enough to turn the two of them into ashes. It was definitely not as simple as severely injuring them!

They were scared. They were afraid. They wanted to escape in different directions. However, just as they parted, that arrow immediately split into two traces of arrow shadows and went after each of them.

“Damn it!”

They never expected that this arrow could still split into two. Besides, even though its destructive power was reduced after the split, just one of them was still more than enough to eliminate a Void Glimpse Stage expert!

The two of them bit off the tips of their tongues simultaneously and boosted their speed to its maximum level. Each of them then turned into traces of smoke and flew beyond one hundred and fifty thousand li* (500m per li) in an instant.

However, the arrow lights had also disappeared from sight in a flash.

Just as the two of them reappeared at one hundred and fifty thousand li* (500m per li) away, the two traces of arrow light suddenly came out from thin air and pierced through their dantians, disregarding all of their Void Glimpse Stage defenses.

*Puff*

At the moment they were struck by the arrow light, their bodies were burned by the star flames before they could even let out a scream of pain. In just a single breath, they disintegrated into ashes.

*Whistle*

The two traces of arrow light brought back their primordial lightning to Ning Fan who devoured them without hesitation.

He did not disperse his star bow. Instead, he approached that young master in peach-colored robes step by step. His eyes were filled with an intense cold light.He took nine steps consecutively.

The nine steps all stepped upon the great momentum of heaven and earth. Each of the steps compelled the shape of a sword to take form.

However, just as he made the final step, he crushed the great momentum and exuded his sovereign qi, condensing his sovereign aura.

The endpoint of the nine steps was to break the great momentum and condense his sovereign aura!

“You want to use me to gain merits, huh? With just you?!”

*Chi*

After making nine steps, traces of swords of the great momentum suddenly rose in the sea of clouds and there was even a pure golden sword which was imbued with an unstoppable killing qi. Without giving the young master in the peach-colored robes a chance to beg for his life, Ning Fan killed him with a slash!

*Hiss*

Each of the old monsters from the lightning palace sucked in a cold breath. All of them were filled with disbelief.

The might of Ning Fan’s single arrow could kill two Void Refinement Realm experts.

The strength and sharpness of the sword that he can create by taking nine steps was unstoppable!

“The sword of sovereign qi!”

As Huang Yunzi was about to step in to save his adopted child, he literally froze. After heaving a sigh, he closed his eyes.

“Fine. This is a trouble this evil son brought to himself. Thus, he deserves to end up like this. However, I didn’t expect for this Zhou Ming to actually be so strong. A single arrow from his devil bow can instantly kill everyone below the Void Inquiry Stage! The sword of sovereign qi he created is even more powerful. Even I have a thirty-percent chance of getting killed if I directly withstand the might of that sword... This young man probably still has other techniques. He must never be offended!”

Ning Fan had killed three individuals in a row and no one dared to stop him from doing so.

Even Huang Yunzi silently permitted Ning Fan’s actions. Who else would dare to stop him?

Chu Nanfeng, Mo Feiyun and the others were so stunned that their mouths hung wide open.

Even though they were aware of Ning Fan’s strength, they did not know that he actually possessed such powerful trump cards which could allow him to kill Void Glimpse Stage experts with a single arrow and even kill a Void Inquiry Stage expert with a single slash!

“Huang Yunzi, give me an explanation!”

Ning Fan’s eyes were cold. Originally, he did not want to create troubles on this sea of clouds. However, it was the members of the lightning palace who offended him first. Thus, the situation was different now.

If Huang Yunzi does not give him a satisfying explanation, he would flatten the lightning palace on this sea of clouds today!

“I heard that Fellow Daoist Zhou is gathering primordial lightning. Coincidentally, I have ten thousand traces of Divine Transformation Realm primordial lightning. They had been left behind by the Divine Transformation Realm cultivators who died on this floor in the past...” Huang Yunzi smiled bitterly and offered to compensate him.

“It’s not enough! I want the dark golden bamboo leaf and an additional one thousand silver jades. Then, this matter will be considered to be resolved. Otherwise, your sea of clouds shall be annihilated!”

“Impudent!”

Just as Ning Fan finished speaking, a few Void Glimpse Stage old monsters from the lightning palace of the sea of clouds immediately moved forward and glared at him to express their dissatisfaction upon being threatened.

“I never repeat my words!”

Ning Fan scanned across them with his piercing eyes which were like cold lightning. His baleful qi was like a sharp sword that could cause a sharp pain in the Sea of Consciousness of these old monsters. All of them hurriedly fell back in fear.

What they were afraid of was Ning Fan’s vigorous aura force. With just his baleful qi alone, he forced Void Glimpse Stage old monsters to fall back!

“Keep quiet! Fellow Daoist Zhou’s request is very reasonable! Bo Yuan, fetch the dark golden bamboo leaf and one thousand silver jades and hand them over to Fellow Daoist Zhou!”

“...” The old monster named Bo Yuan was one of the individuals that had been pushed back by Ning Fan’s aura force. His eyes were filled with struggle, not knowing if he should obey the command or not.

“Hurry up and go! Don’t tell me you want my lightning palace to be annihilated?!” Huang Yunzi roared.

“W-What?!”

Bo Yuan was shocked. He had not expected for Huang Yunzi who was a Void Inquiry Stage old monster to be actually afraid of Ning Fan.

Well, it was no surprise. Bo Yuan was just a Void Glimpse Stage expert. He might know how powerful that star bow was but he had no idea of that sovereign sword.

As for Huang Yunzi, he had sensed danger from the sovereign sword. How could he be not afraid of Ning Fan?

Bo Yuan let out a sigh and acted hurriedly according to Huang Yunzi’s order.

Ning Fan then tossed all the lightning jades to Lei Shiyi without even looking at them. He only devoured the ten thousand traces of primordial spirit and kept the dark golden bamboo leaf. After that, he went into the teleportation formation and entered the thirteenth floor.

Only after this group of experts had left did Huang Yunzi heaved a sigh of relief. When he looked at his dead adopted son and the two Void Glimpse Stage experts, his heart was filled with lingering fear.

“Bo Yuan, remember! That Zhou Ming is someone we must not offend... He is one hundred times more dangerous than King Ying Long!”

...

On the thirteenth floor, Lei Shiyi gave Ning Fan a wretched smile and looked at him with admiration.

“Fellow Daoist Zhou really is brave. You even dared to make such a request to that stingy old man, Huang Yunzi. Good job! What if we extort like that all the way up to the twenty-fourth floor in one go? You will get your bamboo leaf and primordial lightning while I can get my lightning jades... Hehe. What can you say about sharing wealth together?!”

“Alright!”

Ning Fan nodded his head. There was no harm in blackmailing his enemies. Besides, so what if he behaved a little more domineering? After all, strength was the representation of status in this Black Lightning Tower in the first place. If the others hate him, they could bring their men to kill him anytime. As for the consequences of their actions... well, it would be the same with Zhu Feng and the rest!

After refining the ten thousand traces of primordial lightning, the lightning armor on Ning Fan’s primordial spirit had broken through to the third level of the gold grade. Its defense had become even more terrifying.

It could even withstand a Void Pierce Stage attack now. As for Void Inquiry Stage attacks, Ning Fan could completely ignore them!

In other words, no one on the first twenty-four floors would be able to leave a scratch on him including King Ying Long!

However, Ning Fan discovered a very depressing fact.

After his lightning armor reached the third level, the amount of primordial lightning it would need to advance to the next level had become even more frightening.

From the second level to the third level, he only needed to devour about ten thousand traces of primordial lightning.

However, it would need at least two hundred thousand traces of primordial lightning to attain the fourth level!

The fact that more primordial lightning was needed to achieve the next breakthrough meant that the level of defense of the fourth level of the gold grade lightning armor was far beyond the third level.

Indirectly, it also reflected the fact that the intensity of attacks of experts at the Absolute Void Stage were more than twenty times stronger than that of Void Pierce Stage old monsters.

In the Void Refinement Realm, the difference between each minor cultivation realms were worlds apart. It was because only cultivators who clearly understood the word ‘void’ could truly become strong beings!

An hour later, the group of cultivators reached the lightning palace on the black ocean of the thirteenth floor.

What surprised Ning Fan a little was that the lightning lord of the thirteenth floor had already prepared the dark golden bamboo leaf, ten thousand primordial lightning and one thousand lightning jades for him to take.

The so-called Lightning Lord Xuan Hai was a skinny old man. He was normally extremely arrogant and haughty. Now, however, he did not even have the slightest trace of arrogance when facing Ning Fan.

“Hehe. Fellow Daoist Zhou, please use the teleportation formation as you wish! If you have any other requests, you can just tell me directly. As long as it is within this little old man’s capabilities, I will certainly do my best to fulfill them!”

“Even if I want you to join me in my fight against King Ying Long?” Ning Fan gave a meaningful glance at Lightning Lord Xuan Hai.

“Hehe. Fellow Daoist must be joking. This little old man is already very old. My magic power is already weak. I’m afraid that I am already not a match for King Ying Long. However, I can give Fellow Daoist ten illusory undead puppets as a gift. It can be considered as my best contribution to Little Friend’s endeavor.”

“Oh? Since that is so, I really have to thank Fellow Daoist Xuan Hai for your generous gift.”

Since this person had offered to give Ning Fan undead puppets to strengthen his forces, he naturally would not refuse it. After receiving them, he passed all of them to Lei Shiyi for him to command.

Just like this, Ning Fan and his group went up floor after floor peacefully and safely until the twenty-second floor. There was nearly no one who dared to offend him.

“Fellow Daoist Zhou really has an influential reputation. In our journey, there were only people giving presents to us without anyone blocking our path!” Lei Shiyi complimented him. Based on illusory undead puppets alone, he had already received two hundred of them. Even though these undead puppets were not as strong as true Void Refinement Realm cultivators, their combat power was equivalent to that of twenty Void Glimpse Stage experts.

“Reputation... huh? They just want to use me to get rid of King Ying Long! Evidently, King Ying Long has quite a lot of enemies. It’s just similar to the saying which goes: when a wall starts to sway, everyone gives it a shove...”

“Leading a tiger to kill a wolf? Well, if they really think like that, wouldn’t they be afraid of making you too strong? Aren’t they worried that they will bring a disaster to themselves if you decide to become the next King Ying Long?” Lei Shiyi winked as he teased.

“Making me too strong? Lei Shiyi, you aren’t the only smart person in this world. I suppose there are already many people who know of my identity as a living person from my act of requesting primordial lightning. Since I am a living person, it’s impossible for me to stay here in this Black Lightning Tower. As for you, Lei Shiyi, you will at most stay on the eleventh floor if you just have the illusory undead puppets and wouldn’t go to the upper floors to compete with them... Thus, they are more than willing to kill King Ying Long with a borrowed knife.”

After Ning Fan was done talking, he no longer continued their conversation.

The Tai Yue Lightning Palace of the twenty-second floor was already right in front of their eyes.

It was a little different from the previous floors. Even though the lightning lord of the twenty-second floor had also prepared generous gifts in preparation for Ning Fan’s arrival, his face was livid and solemn and his attitude was rather cold.

The lightning lord of the twenty-second floor, Lightning Lord Tai Yue, was a Void Inquiry Stage expert at the Second Level of the Golden Body Realm.

He cultivated body techniques and magic techniques at the same time. He was nearly peerless among the experts at his level but he was still a little more inferior compared to King Ying Long.

He was hoping to borrow Ning Fan’s hands to kill Ying Long but he had his own pride. Thus, he found it impossible to bow and prostrate before Ning Fan.

Besides, this burly man who was as huge as a black tower still doubted Ning Fan’s strength. He did not believe that a lowly Half-Step Void Refinement Realm cultivator would be able to threaten the life of a Void Inquiry Stage expert with his sovereign sword.

“I am Tai Yue. I have been waiting here for you. The gifts are all here. The teleportation formation is also there. Little Friend can use it as you please. However, if you wish to leave this floor peacefully, there is a condition!”

“What condition?” Ning Fan’s eyes turned serious. He felt a massive sense of battle intent from Tai Yue’s body.

“Withstand a single punch from me. If you survive, I will let you pass and go to the twenty-third floor! Otherwise, you don’t have the qualifications to fight against Ying Long at all!”

Tai Yue took a step forward. The massive force of his stomp caused the mountains and rivers within the vicinity of one hundred thousand li* (500m per li) to crumble!

This man’s body refinement realm is really strong!