Grasping Evil

Chapter 451: Chapter 451: Spare No One, Including the Country Lord

Translator: GE_Team

Ning Fan’s long hair danced in the air. With a single punch, he injured Shi Kun. Then, he dashed towards him in a ray of travelling light and engaged in a physical fight with him only relying on their bodies.

Shi Kun felt even more surprised as time went by. Every time his kicks and fists clash against Ning Fan’s, he would feel the same sensation as being struck by a thousand mountains, inflicting great amounts of pain on his abdomen and chest.

He had always been proud of the fact that he practiced both magic techniques and body techniques which rendered him peerless among Void Glimpse Stage experts. He was always confident in his own combat power, especially the strength of his physical body.

Today, however, even though the level of his magic power was clearly higher than Ning Fan’s, he lost to him in terms of physical body strength. How could he remain calm?!

Ning Fan crushed the azure scales on his body. Seeing that the injuries on his body were getting more and more severe as their fight continued, Shi Kun’s eyes suddenly flashed with ferocity and he hurled a strong strike at Ning Fan. Then, with the help of the force from the collision of their strikes, he pulled away from Ning Fan.

Then, he patted his storage pouch and took out a black jade bottle. His face grimaced in pain as he crushed the bottle with his hand.

There was only a single drop of black liquid in the bottle. As the bottle broke, the liquid flowed out. It was as viscous as blood and contained a massive amount of power. Shi Kun opened his mouth and sucked it into his abdomen in order to refine it.

A few moments later, several pieces of strange black scales began to grow on his body. At the same time, his qi also became gloomier. However, the strength of his body had gotten a little stronger than before. He was now nearly on par with Ning Fan.

Ning Fan’s eyes turned grim. He could naturally tell that the black liquid was some kind of secret medicinal blood which could enhance the body’s strength of the one who consumes it for a short period of time.

Countless experts who were watching the fight on the sides sucked in cold breaths. Evidently, they recognized what that black liquid was and where it came from.

“The core blood of a sovereign beast! It can’t be wrong. T-This is the core blood of a sovereign beast! It’s demon blood that was concocted using the demon pill of a sovereign beast with a secret refinement method! The power contained in a single drop of this core blood is nearly equivalent to a sovereign beast’s demon pill!”

“What?! A sovereign beast?! That is a ferocious beast comparable to a Void Fragmentation Realm beast! The power within the sovereign beast core blood is explosive. Even a Void Refinement Realm old monster would need to use countless spiritual herbs to harmonize its power before refining just a single droplet of sovereign beast core blood. Even if Shi Kun is an unrivalled expert among Void Glimpse Stage cultivators, there’s no way he can just directly consume the sovereign beast core blood!”

“You’re right. This is not the true sovereign beast core blood. It has been diluted and probably only has 1% of the power of the genuine one. That’s why Shi Kun was able to consume it directly.”

“However, even if it’s diluted sovereign beast core blood, it’s still priceless. I didn’t expect that Shi Kun would be so afraid of Venerated Ming. The fight had only just begun and he had already decided to use his secret medicine...”

Just as what the old monsters had said, the price of a sovereign beast core blood cannot be calculated. If it wasn’t for Ning Fan who drove Shi Kun into desperation, the latter would certainly not be willing to consume that bottle of diluted core blood.

Long ago, he found the corpse of a dead sovereign beast in a ruin by luck and managed to dig out a demon pill from it. Using a secret art, he refined a droplet of sovereign beast core blood.

To a Golden Body Refining Realm cultivator, sovereign beast core blood is an extremely precious item for body refinement.

Shi Kun had been personally keeping that sovereign beast core blood inside his storage pouch as he did not dare to hand it to anybody.

Besides, he only extracted strands of the core blood and kept them inside a jade bottle that would serve as his secret medicine to temporarily increase his strength at crucial moments.

If it wasn’t due to his physical strength being weaker than Ning Fan’s, he would definitely not choose to consume his secret medicine.

*Bang* *Bang* *Boom*

After consuming the secret medicine, Shi Kun’s body was completely covered in black scales. His strength was being enhanced greatly. He stretched his fingers and slowly clenched his fists. His aura force became incredibly strong. As Ning Fan attacked, he actually managed to block all of his attacks.

As the fight continued, Shi Kun became stronger and stronger. His character might not be good but his combat power was not to be underestimated. In the Rain World, he definitely was a man who was famous far and wide.

“Stone Sword, Cut!”

Shi Kun’s aura force had reached its peak. His eyes flashed with ferocious killing intent. As he raised one of his hands and grasped, countless broken stones on the ground suddenly floated in the air and clumped together, forming into a gigantic turquoise sword that glittered brilliantly.

That gigantic turquoise sword was also an item that was summoned using magic technique. That magic technique was a Low Grade Mortal Void magic technique.

As the sword light condensed, Shi Kun wielded the sword and made a slash towards Ning Fan. Green sword light cut through heaven and earth. The vast sky within the vicinity of several ten thousand li* (500m per li) was cut apart by this sword light, revealing the space in the dark void.

That sword light was capable of killing any cultivator who had yet to attain the Void Refinement Realm. Countless cultivators who were spectating the fight held their breaths in terror.

However, such powerful sword light could still not trouble Ning Fan.

The shiny golden armor that was protecting his body made him look like an ancient god. Without trying to evade at all, he stood facing the incoming sword light and allowed that attack to cut his golden armor.

The blow from the sword light gave out an ear-splitting boom. The sword qi that that attack discharged pierced through countless layers of moving clouds.

However, no matter how sharp the sword light was, it could not leave a single scratch on Ning Fan’s golden armor.

After taking a direct hit from Shi Kun, Ning Fan still remained unscathed!

The durability of the Primordial Lightning Armor once again amazed everyone. Countless old monsters reckoned that it was possible that not even a Void Inquiry Stage old monster could break such a solid armor. As long as Ning Fan has the lightning armor, Shi Kun would not be able to harm him at all.

Without a doubt, Ning Fan was already in a situation where he would never be defeated from the beginning of their fight!

Shi Kun was completely stunned. He could not believe that he, the unrivaled old monster among Void Glimpse Stage cultivators, was unable to harm a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm junior.

How could this even be possible?!

“The Art of Concept of Self!”

Ning Fan took a step forward. His body shone with golden light. Two golden virtual shadows then emerged.

Both of the two golden virtual shadows had First Level of the Golden Body Refinement Realm. With him and his two shadows, the three of them instantly surrounded Shi Kun and delivered their strongest attacks without mercy.

The trio blasted the vast sky to pieces. Shi Kun was in the middle of all these attacks, holding his gigantic turquoise sword. While blocking Ning Fan’s attacks, his body was constantly struck by the attacks of the two golden shadows, worsening his injuries.

Who was he? He was a famous Void Refinement Realm old monster who could travel across the Rain World unhindered. A dignified king of a Void Grade cultivation country. Now, he was being beaten so badly by a junior. How could he endure such humiliation?!

“Zhou Ming, don’t be too excessive! You have nothing to do with the matter between the Giant Devil Clan and me. Why did you intervene?! I don’t get it at all!”

*Shua*

Shi Kun spurted out a few mouthfuls of blood essence in a row. Then, his gigantic turquoise sword gave off an extremely dangerous glow. A flash of sword light slashed horizontally across the air. The heavens broke while the earth was sliced into two!

It was a wrathful attack from Shi Kun. He delivered this attack using his full power and its destructive power was extremely close to that of the Void Inquiry Stage!

Even so, such a powerful strike was still unable to break the defense of Ning Fan’s lightning armor. He was still unhurt.

The two golden shadows, on the other hand, were grievously injured. The wrathful attack from Shi Kun had severed an arm from one of them and a leg from the other.

Shi Kun let out a cacophony of laughter as his eyes revealed a hideous, evil expression.

Each of the golden virtual shadows had First Level of the Golden Body Refining Realm. They possessed strength equivalent to an ordinary Void Refinement Realm cultivator. However, so what if they had that strength?

Having been struck by Shi Kun’s wrathful attack, even the golden shadows suffered severe injuries.

Terror coursed through each and every one of the spectators. The destructive power of that sword attack just now was enough to heavily injure or even kill an ordinary Void Glimpse Stage cultivator!

In terms of combat power, Shi Kun indeed deserved his reputation. Being dubbed as an unrivaled expert among Void Glimpse Stage cultivators was definitely not a baseless claim!

Ning Fan’s eyes turned slightly stern. Shi Kun was indeed very strong. If Ning Fan were to face him before he entered the Black Lightning Tower, he certainly would not be his opponent.

However, after experiencing the things that had happened inside the Black Lightning Tower, Ning Fan’s cultivation base might not have increased but his combat power had been greatly enhanced. No matter if it was his defensive techniques or his attacks, all of them had pretty much been strengthened. Now, experts like Shi Kun were already incapable of being a threat to him.

After all, Ning Fan in his devil form could even kill a Void Inquiry Stage expert!

Facing Shi Kun, Ning Fan was very confident in dealing with him even without turning into that form!

“You have overdone it, Zhou Ming! How dare a mere revered elder of the Rain Palace like you provoke me?! You should die!” Shi Kun pointed his sword at Ning Fan and dashed towards him. He refused to believe that he could not break the latter’s lightning armor.

“So what if I have gone too far on you?!”

Ning Fan’s black hair danced wildly in the air. A cold light flickered in his eyes. Ten thousand streaks of golden light shone on his right palm. Using that palm, he slammed it on Shi Kun’s gigantic turquoise sword.

The impact of that blow shook heavens and earth. A great part of the vast sky was literally fragmented into countless pieces.

After receiving that sudden strike from Ning Fan, Shi Kun felt a great and irresistible force that slammed on his sword, crushing his weapon!

Meanwhile, the two badly injured golden shadows behind him had inexplicably healed all of a sudden and delivered heavy attacks at Shi Kun’s back.

*Bang* *Bang*

Two punches directly hit Shi Kun’s back, shattering his black scale armor. Then, he fell down from the sky like a kite with a broken string. He glared at the two golden shadows with an expression that was filled with confusion.

“How could it turn out like this?! I have clearly grievously injured your two golden shadows. How could they heal in such a short time?!”

Shi Kun would never know that the golden shadows were the effect of the Art of Concept of Self. Unless they receive a fatal strike, they could heal themselves completely in just a few seconds no matter how severe the injuries they get.

With a loud thud, he crashed into the ground. His body created a large pit which was a few thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) wide.

He climbed out of the pit with a body that was badly hurt. The attacks weren’t able to kill him. This level of toughness indeed matched the capabilities of an unrivaled expert among the Void Glimpse Stage cultivators.

He lifted his head and stared at Ning Fan. A hint of madness filled his eyes.

Then, a rush of terrifying aura force spread out from his body. He had decided to use his strongest trump card to finally determine the victor of this fight.

All of the rocks beneath the land on his feet began to move towards him. It looked extremely strange.

Shi Kun’s body emanated a strange evil light. In just a single moment, his body started to grow.

“Dao of Ghost Stone: Stone God True Body!”

Within just a few breaths, Shi Kun’s body had grown up to five thousand and five hundred zhang* (3.33m per zhang) tall. He had turned into a giant formed out of turquoise stones.

He held a huge ancient turquoise shield in his left hand while holding a massive turquoise sword in his right, making him look like an ancient god. He let out a roar of rage.

At this moment, his combat power was already extremely close to the Void Inquiry Stage!

“T-This is... the ‘Fiendgod True Body’...” Each of the old monsters spectating the fight were dumbstruck.

Some of them had no idea behind the inner workings of Shi Kun’s magic technique. Hence, they refused to make any comment.

Some of them recognized the essence of this magic technique. It was too startling that no one dared to believe what their eyes were seeing.

Many fiendgod cultivation methods had secret techniques that practitioners could use to turn into giants. However, the giants they turn into could also be differentiated into different grades.

The giant forms that can be achieved through common gigantifications would only be called ‘Giant Body’. Their physical bodies might be strong but they could not display the divine abilities of the ancient fiendgods.

If the practitioners of fiendgod cultivation methods could master their ‘Giant Body’, they could then achieve the ‘True Body’. After that would be unlocking the divine abilities of the ancient fiendgod and they would even have the chance to create the Immemorial Divine Weapons of the ancient deities and devils through imitations!

Shi Kun’s son who was incapacitated by Ning Fan showed a face of admiration and pride when he looked at his father who had turned into a gaint.

“My state instructors, behold! This is my father’s greatest trump card, ‘Stone God True Body’! The cultivation method that my father practices is a fiendgod cultivation method named ‘Ghost Stone Divine Art’. It is rumored to be a type of cultivation method that was left behind by a revered deity of the Stone Tribe. My father has not only achieved the true body of the Stone God. He has also recreated the famous Immemorial Divine Weapon that once belonged to that ancient deity! Look! The stone sword and shield that my father are holding right now are the divine weapons of that ancient deity! With these divine weapons, no matter how strong that Zhou Ming is, he is definitely not my father’s match!”

Shi Kun’s son did not even lower his voice down at all as he spoke and everyone nearby could hear him. With his words in mind, they became more and more fearful as they looked at the gigantic Shi Kun.

In the distance, an old man in golden robes and five pill masters were standing in midair. They were observing the fight.

The five pill masters were the pill masters of the Scarlet Heaven Palace that Ning Fan had severely injured previously.

As for the old man in golden robes, he was none other than the palace lord of the Scarlet Heaven Palace, Mo Xiu!

Mo Xiu scanned around the battlefield. When he noticed Ning Fan, his eyes flashed with a hint of indiscernible fury. However, because of the Rain Sovereign’s orders, he suppressed his anger within him.

When he saw Shi Kun who was in his giant form, his expression turned solemn for the first time.

“Is it the ‘Fiendgod True Body’? *Snort* This Shi Kun is quite impressive. He actually attained the True Body of a Fiendgod and he even forged two Immemorial Divine Weapons. Even I will need to spend some effort in order to defeat him. There’s no need to watch it any longer. Unless that Zhou Ming has Void Inquiry Stage cultivation base, he will certainly die today.”

Anxiety filled Yue Lingkong’s heart. She did not expect that Shi Kun had attained the Fiendgod True Body.

Little Cucumber is really in danger this time. I have to save him.

Even Xu Qiuling who had been calm all this time began to show an uneasy look.

Fen Chi was also worried about Ning Fan. She had finally fallen for a man after so long. How could she bear to let her man face such danger?

However, no matter how worried the three women were, none of them intervened in Ning Fan’s battle.

It was Ning Fan’s battlefield. What they should do right now was to believe in him.

They had to trust him and believe that he would win. They had to trust him that he would not be defeated.

If you win, I will accompany you as you reign over the world beneath the heavens! If you lose, I will stand by your side as you start from scratch all over again!

Shi Kun laughed evilly at the sky with his voice cracking like thunder.

“Zhou Ming! Since the day I have attained the Stone God True Body, this is the second time I displayed this to the world. During the first time, I have used this true body to eliminate the strongest bandit cultivator of Shi Le Country...”

His laughter did not cease as his words shocked countless old monsters.

Shi Le Country was once a country that was dominated by bandit cultivators. Their strongest leader was a Void Inquiry Stage old monster. That expert used a secret art to quickly advance into the Void Inquiry Stage and that was why his cultivation base was unstable. Hence, he could be regarded as the weakest cultivator among Void Inquiry Stage experts.

Even so, the weakest expert of the Void Inquiry Stage cultivators was still several times stronger than a Void Glimpse Stage cultivator.

However, that expert suddenly went missing one day and Shi Kun wiped out the entire Shi Le Country by himself, killing countless bandit cultivators. Then, he occupied the country and became the new ruler.

No one had ever known that Shi Kun was the one who killed the previous leader of the bandit cultivators.

Today, the reason Shi Kun revealed this shocking incident was to let everyone know that his strength was beyond all doubts. He could even kill a Void Inquiry Stage expert, much less Ning Fan who was just a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm junior!

“The shield that I am holding in my left hand is the Ba Chi¹Shield. It can deflect all kinds of Void Glimpse Stage magic attacks!”

“The sword in my right is the Ten Fists Sword. A single slash is equivalent to the strength of ten punches from a Void Glimpse Stage cultivator. In other words, it’s comparable to a Void Inquiry Stage attack!”

“Zhou Ming, you should feel honored to be able to die under the sword and shield of my Fiendgod True Body!”

Shi Kun laughed fearlessly and confidently, as if victory was already within his grasp and Ning Fan was already a dead man.

Ning Fan’s eyes flashed with impatience. He was already fed up with Shi Kun’s bullshit.

The game is over.

He extended his five fingers and clawed at the ground, completely extracting the soul from the vast earth. Moments after that, his magic power was comparable to that of a true Void Refinement Realm cultivator.

He spurted out a few mouthfuls of blood essence and suddenly held the seven Yellow Dragon Jade Tokens in the air, summoning seven layers of yellow skies. The appearance of the yellow skies exuded immense aura force.

Each of the seven layers of yellow skies had the capability to deal considerable damage to a Void Inquiry Stage expert. Each of them was equivalent to a Void Inquiry Stage attack!

As for the combined force of the seven layers of yellow skies, its destructive power was comparable to that of a Void Pierce Stage attack. It was capable of putting a Void Inquiry Stage expert in a grievous condition and crushing every Void Glimpse Stage cultivator!

“T-This... What is that magic treasure?! Impossible! How could a Divine Transformation Realm junior like you possess such a powerful magic treasure?! How is it possible that you are able to activate a magic treasure of that level?!”

All the pride and confidence within Shi Kun turned into nervousness at this moment.

His Ba Chi Shield might be able to deflect every Void Glimpse Stage attack but each layer of the yellow skies that Ning Fan had summoned carried Void Inquiry Stage level of destructive power. With the seven of them combined, their destructive power would be comparable to an attack at the Void Pierce Stage. How could he deflect them then?!

“This is not good. I have to escape!”

Just as Ning Fan activated the Yellow Dragon Seven Tokens, all of his arrogance got engulfed by the frustration of having no chances of winning.

Each of the old monsters present was once again greatly surprised by Ning Fan. The latter actually had such powerful means up his sleeves. This kind of magic treasure was enough to strike fear into every Void Inquiry Stage old monster!

With this treasure in his hands, which Void Inquiry Stage old monster would willingly dare to offend Ning Fan?!

“Crush!”

Ning Fan pointed at the skies. The seven layers of yellow skies plummeted as if the sky was falling. That was the true might of the falling skies.

The weight of the seven layers of yellow skies was immeasurable. The immense force of the plummeting skies flattened countless mountains and rivers.

Shi Kun wielded his gigantic turquoise sword and delivered his greatest attack. It managed to destroy one layer of the yellow skies at the end but the remaining six layers continued to fall down upon him.

In just a second, all the bones of his body were crushed by the yellow skies. With a loud screech, his massive body was squashed into a pile of flesh. No one knew whether he was dead or still alive.

As the smoke and dust cleared, the battlefield gradually turned silent. However, Shi Kun had already gotten out of his giant form. He was lying on the ground like a pile of mud. He no longer had the strength to move a single muscle but he was still breathing.

As for Ning Fan, he stood indifferently in front of Shi Kun and said with a cold voice.

“I’ve warned you. You can’t afford to mess with me. You chose not to believe it yourself.”

“*Coughs weakly*...Z-Zhou Ming, the honorable Revered Ming, you must not kill me. You can’t... I am the... country lord... of Shi Le Country... The country lord... appointed by the Rain Palace... Killing me... is against the Word Law...”

“Oh. So you are still aware of the Rain Palace and the World Law, aren’t you? You are the lord of a country that was appointed by the Rain Palace while I am a revered elder that was personally appointed by the Rain Sovereign. You have tried to kill me first. You are the one who violated the World Law in the first place for trying to murder a revered elder of the Rain Palace. Even if you are the lord of a country, you shall be executed without exception!”

*Bang*

Ning Fan made a heavy stomp and pulverized Shi Kun’s skull, destroying the latter’s physical body instantly.

At the same time, he sent a ray of sword light through his finger at Shi Kun’s dantian. It directly struck Shi Kun’s primordial spirit which was frantically running away.

The miniature primordial spirit let out a wail and perished with resentment.

Ning Fan had killed Shi Kun, the country lord of Shi Le Country!

He had not only killed him but also labelled him as a criminal who went against the World Law for trying to murder a revered elder of the Rain Palace. Hence, no one could seek trouble with Ning Fan for this matter!

He took Shi Kun’s storage pouch away with a wave of his hands. As he scanned through the pouch using his spirit sense, he found out that there were quite a lot of excellent items inside. What satisfied him especially was the jade bottle that sealed the sovereign beast core blood within.

The loot from this battle was indeed abundant.

*Suck in cold breaths*

At the moment Ning Fan finished off Shi Kun, countless old monsters were overwhelmed with astonishment!

What did they just see?!

They had actually witnessed the death of a Void Refinement Realm old monster with their own eyes!

Moreover, that Void Refinement Realm old monster was the country lord of Shi Le Country. He was a strong and ruthless expert who was invincible among Void Glimpse cultivators and who even killed a Void Inquiry Stage expert before!

He’s dead... just like that?!

Venerated Ming managed to kill Shi Kun. His strength is really unfathomable!

All of a sudden, countless old monsters spectating the fight fell into silence. The way they looked at Ning Fan was filled with fear and terror.

The cultivators of the Giant Devil Clan who had come to offer their help were different from these old monsters. After understanding the whole incident and realizing that Ning Fan had saved the Giant Devil Clan from annihilation by killing Shi Kun, each of them were extremely grateful to him from the depths of their hearts.

“Venerated Ming is mighty!”

Loud hurrahs reverberated across the skies. They spread further and further and eventually, it echoed throughout the whole Cold Northern Country!

Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel

1. Ba Chi Shield (Chinese: 八尺盾 Pinyin: bā chǐ dùn )

Individually, Ba (八) means eight while Chi (尺) has multiple meanings. It means the ruler for measurement; something that is flat like a ruler; a unit of measurement or one of the three acupoints for measuring pulse in Chinese medicine.

However, in this case, Ba & Chi (八尺) carries the meaning “huge” or beautiful”. I believe that this name, Ba Chi (八尺), is borrowed from the Chinese name of an item in the Japanese folklore that is called Yata no Kagami (八咫鏡). It is said to be a sacred mirror that is a part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan which is also called the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan. It’s said to have the function of avoiding evil spirits.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yata_no_Kagami

2. https://www.baike.com/album/%E5%85%AB%E5%B0%BA%E9%95%9C/2945008696808742703/img?src=//p6-bk.byteimg.com/tos-cn-i-mlhdmxsy5m/54ebdc6904d94f0aa95eac0561b47a5e~tplv-mlhdmxsy5m-q75:0:0.image?detail_id=