Grasping Evil

Chapter 395.1 Demon Cloud Rain Sovereign

Ning Fan was stealthily travelling in the pitch-black tunnel. It was unknown how much distance he had covered. At the end of the dark passage, there stood a gigantic silver door.

The door was at least one hundred thousand zhang* (3.33 m per zhang) tall and there were twelve silver lion statues lined up at the entrance.

When Ning Fan revealed himself and approached the door, the dull and lifeless eyes of the twelve lion statues suddenly turned towards him. Each of them emanated a bone-chilling killing intent.

Their message was clear. If Ning Fan gets a little closer to the door, all twelve of them would pounce on him and tear him to pieces.

A jolt of surprise ran across Ning Fan. If he did not sense wrongly, these twelve lion statues were products of a certain kind of formation technique.

They had been built and placed at this place with each of them infused with the power of the formation technique to guard the gigantic door and attack every intruder.

Each and every one of these twelve lion statues gave off the aura of the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm!

Even the Rain Sovereign himself would be inflicted with injuries once he is attacked by the twelve lion statues at the same time.

These lion statues could never be moved or brought away from this place. Their presence gave Ning Fan great surprise.

“The Rain Sovereign of a past generation who built this Blood Dragon Pool had really spent a great fortune on this! He actually used twelve Void Fragmentation Realm statues as guards whenever he entered into secluded training. One has to know that even the current Rain Palace only has eleven Void Fragmentation Realm experts in total, including the current Rain Sovereign...”

After calming his feeling of surprise, Ning Fan stopped moving. He did not dare to get a step closer to the gigantic door.

He stood there and pondered.

It’s been rumored that none of the three generations of Rain Sovereigns after the Red Cloud Rain Sovereign could enter this place for secluded training.

There must be some kind of reason for that hidden behind this door.

As for this particular reason, Ning Fan already had a guess before he entered the tunnel.

His gaze swept across the twelve lion statues and eventually stopped at an inconspicuous groove above the gigantic door.

The groove was only the size of a palm. It seemed like something was needed to be inserted on that spot in order to unlock the gigantic door.

Without this item, any intruder would never be able to open the door even if the lion statues do not attack them.

Ning Fan patted his storage pouch and took out a silver token.

That token was the token of the Rain Sovereign which he obtained from the eighth floor of the Lost World Tower!

The third layer of the Blood Dragon Pool was specially prepared for the Rain Sovereign for cultivation purposes. But why could none of them enter the third layer after the generation of the Red Cloud Rain Sovereign...?

When Ning Fan noticed the groove above the door, he already had another guess in his mind. The size of the groove was exactly the same as the token of the Rain Sovereign. Perhaps all of this was related to the token?!

Ever since the generation of the Red Cloud Rain Sovereign, the Rain Sovereigns of the following three generations had lost the token.

Presently, this item had fallen into Ning Fan’s hands. Would he be able to unlock the treasure house of cultivation that the Rain Sovereigns of three generations were unable to unlock?!

“Whether it’s true or not, it will be known after a single try! If the lion statues still attacks me even if I hold this token, I will turn invisible immediately using the Heaven Deceiving Cloak and flee. Even though these lion statues are of the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm, they may not necessarily be able to detect me.”

Ning Fan made up his mind. He took a large step forward, going into the attack range of the lion statues.

His heart was filled with two hundred percent of alertness and caution. Once he sees any lion statue show signs of assaulting him, he would immediately use his cloak and retreat.

Just as he stepped within the attack range of the lion statues, the killing intent of the twelve statues locked onto him.

However, when their blank eyes caught sight of the token of the Rain Sovereign, their killing intent subsided instantly.

A rumbling noise echoed across the dark, hollow tunnel. The twelve lion statues actually got to their knees and lowered their heads in the presence of Ning Fan.

After worshipping him on their knees, all twelve of them spoke in unison. Their voices were old and stiff.

“Wel...come...Divine...Sovereign...”

Ning Fan’s eyes lit up with delight.

Sure enough, the key to open the door to the third layer of the Blood Dragon Pool was this token!

However, his expression was filled with shock a moment later. When the twelve lion statues knelt before him, there was actually an indescribable aura force pressing against him.

That aura force did not have malicious intentions.

In fact, that aura force was produced because of the worship from Void Fragmentation Realm beings.

When one attains the Void Fragmentation Realm, they would achieve unity with the Heavenly Dao as they were on the verge of becoming an immortal.

Not everyone would be able to accept the worship of Void Fragmentation Realm cultivators. If one’s aura force wasn’t strong enough, they would probably be crushed by the aura force of the Void Fragmentation Realm beings!

In this situation where twelve Void Fragmentation Realm lion statues were on their knees worshipping simultaneously, a cultivator of the Early Void Refinement Realm would probably be instantly crushed.

Even a Peak Void Refinement Realm expert would not be able to withstand without suffering any injuries!

Ning Fan retreated for one hundred steps consecutively. An aura force which was as massive and boundless as the sea was getting closer to him.

This scene was similar to that time when he was ascending the Ming Yu Building in the Northern Desert City of the Luo Yun Tribe.

While he was being restrained and suppressed by the intense aura force, he then understood and learned the Aura Force Cultivation Technique as well as the divine ability called the Sovereign’s Shadow1...

“The Sovereign’s Shadow!”

Ning Fan stopped retreating. Golden light glowed within his eyes. Afterwards, a golden illusory shadow which was a few zhang* (3.33 m per zhang) tall emerged behind him.

The moment this golden illusory shadow appeared, a protective layer in the form of a golden light surrounded his body. He then fearlessly made a firm step towards the immense aura force.

“Crush!”

His voice was cold and indifferent. It was as if he had become a Void Fragmentation Realm supreme being under the blessing of the Sovereign’s Shadow.

With the help of the aura force of the Sovereign’s Shadow, the aura force from the twelve lion statues actually dispersed after he uttered that single word.

“All of you may rise!”

“Yes!”

The twelve lion statues gradually rose to their feet. They slowly lost their spiritual intelligence and returned to their original forms again.

Ning Fan turned around to look at the Sovereign’s Shadow behind him and thought that if it wasn’t for the Sovereign’s Shadow, he was not confident that he would survive after being hit by the aura force of the statues.

Among the three Void Fragmentation Realm divine abilities: Incarnation, Soul Extraction and the Sovereign’s Shadow, the first two were the abilities that Ning Fan used the most.

His Sense Soul Incarnation Technique allowed him to summon another entity of himself and then merge together whenever he wanted to. It also allowed him to fend off different kinds of attacks by either turning into an illusory form or condensing into a real entity. Moreover, he was able to create various kinds of techniques from his incarnation like his Black Tempest Rupture Art.

The Soul Extraction Technique enabled him to draw the soul of the heavens, land, mountains and rivers to temporarily enhance his own magic power. It was a secret technique that countless cultivators desired.

As for the Sovereign’s Shadow, it had a much greater use.

The strong aura force of the Sovereign’s Shadow was actually just one of its functions. However, it was not the true way to use it.

The ultimate objective of condensing a Sovereign’s Shadow was to temper the sovereign qi of the shadow’s owner. It was not something that just about anyone could do.

When one cultivates their sovereign qi to a certain level, they would be able to use it for different purposes such as devouring the heavenly thunderbolt or earth flames, blocking calamities or tribulations, shielding their fates and heavens’ secrets from others or making their souls immortal. Besides, it could also be used as a powerful means to attack!

The Incarnation Ability was focused on defense, the Soul Extraction Ability emphasized support while the Sovereign’s Shadow Ability was specialized in attacks!

Ning Fan might have successfully condensed his Sovereign’s Shadow, but there was not a single trace of sovereign qi in him.

Out of the eleven Void Fragmentation Realm experts of the Rain Palace, it was rumored that only the Rain Sovereign had completely condensed a trace of sovereign qi. Furthermore, even Chu Chang’an who was of high seniority and had served a few generations of Divine Sovereigns had only condensed half a trace of sovereign qi.

Even so, a lot of cultivators respectfully addressed him as Sovereign Chu1!

The word ‘sovereign’ represented the sovereign qi that he had!

A trace of sovereign qi might seem as light as cotton, but it could crush mountains and rivers.

If Ning Fan possessed even a trace of sovereign qi and prostrated in front of the twelve lion statues, it would definitely be those lion statues that would be harmed!

Within the nine worlds, even ordinary Void Fragmentation Realm experts were incapable of withstanding the worship of a sovereign-like being!

On the other hand, the reason why the Sovereign Rain Primordial Art of the Red Cloud Rain Sovereign was listed as the strongest cultivation method of the Rain Palace was because it contained several types of secret techniques that utilized the sovereign qi. The former Rain Sovereign who had condensed sovereign qi would not have any opponents among the experts of the same level when they display those secret techniques utilizing their sovereign qi, unless they faced another sovereign-like being!

Staring at his Sovereign’s Shadow, Ning Fan silently contemplated.