Grasping Evil

Chapter 420: An Agreement

Translator: GE_Team Editor: GE_Team

Ning Fan could not conceal his surprise. It was all because this small finger bone was just simply too precious!

The First Step of Dao Cultivation was the seven cultivation realms. Even a Void Fragmentation Realm old monster was just at the seventh cultivation realm of the First Step. An expert of that level had yet to truly become an immortal.

Once a cultivator successfully becomes an immortal, they would move on to the Second Step of Dao Cultivation which was separated into three different realms.

With Ning Fan’s current knowledge and understanding, he only knew the first realm of the Second Step which was the Life Immortal Realm consisting of two major levels namely the Human Immortal Realm and Ghost Immortal Realm.

The second realm of the Second Step was the True Immortal Realm. This realm was separated into three major levels. The first level was known as the Crossing Truth Realm while the second level was the Shedding Void Realm. As for the third level, it is currently still unknown.

Above the True Immortal Realm, there was still a third realm before completing the Second Step of Dao Cultivation.

Only those immortals who had attained the pinnacle of the Second Step and were unrivalled in the Four Heavens deserved the title of Immortal Emperor!

This bone was not the same with a finger bone from a Bone Sovereign who was just a Void Fragmentation Realm cultivator. Instead, it was the bone of one of the strongest immortals in the Four Heavens!

If news about this finger bone were to spread in the Rain World, it would probably lead to bloodshed among Void Fragmentation Realm old monsters. Aside from that, countless immortals would secretly descend to the mortal world at the risk of violating the heavenly rules just to obtain this bone!

Ning Fan would have felt nothing if he did not see this bone before.

However, since he had already seen it with his own very eyes, he certainly would be determined to get it.

If I refine this bone into my body...

Ning Fan’s eyes glinted with sternness and indifferently said.

“How much are you selling this bone for?”

He believed Lei Shiyi had the intention of selling it to him since he had already taken out this bone to show it to him. Otherwise, there was no need for him to do such an unnecessary thing.

From Ning Fan’s perspective, however, this Lei Shiyi was a profiteering merchant no matter what. It was impossible for him to sell the Immortal Emperor’s Finger Bone to Ning Fan at a low price.

Well, it was extremely normal for a cunning merchant to hoard excellent items and sell them at sky-high prices to make excessive profits.

If the price that Lei Shiyi offers is too high, Ning Fan would then just seize it from him! After all, he was not a merchant who would go along with the rules.

“Little Friend’s eyes are a little too scary which makes this old man not dare to name a price...”

Lei Shiyi closed the jade box and gave Ning Fan a deep and meaningful look.

He was not a fool. Previously, he had let Ning Fan take advantage of him because he was unaware that the latter was actually a living person.

Now, since he had already found out Ning Fan’s identity as a living person, he naturally realized that the person who benefitted the most from their trade earlier was actually Ning Fan.

With his level of intelligence, he could certainly tell how determined Ning Fan was in obtaining the finger bone. If he could not obtain it using lightning jades, he would then seize it from him by force.

If that happens, it would not matter that much to Lei Shiyi since the Immortal Emperor’s Finger Bone was a hot potato for him. Ning Fan was a living person. it was completely impossible for him to be concerned about the lightning jades.

Hence, Lei Shiyi understood that no matter how much he charges Ning Fan for the finger bone, the latter would never refuse so long as it can be paid using the lightning jades he obtained.

“I want lightning jades. I want all the lightning jades you obtain before you leave the Black Lightning Tower! If you agree to this, this finger bone will be yours from now onwards!”

“It’s a deal.”

Ning Fan agreed immediately without any hesitation. To undead spirits, lightning jades were items that could increase their magic power. To him, however, these were completely useless. Even if he does not give them to Lei Shiyi, they would only become garbage that occupies space in his pouch.

The price that Lei Shiyi offered was not that excessive.

Besides, this profiteering merchant had become a little smarter than before.

What he wanted was all the lightning jades that Ning Fan obtains before leaving the Black Lightning Tower.

He was certain that there would be a great battle between Ning Fan and King Ying Long. Countless undead spirits would die in this battle. Ning Fan could then obtain a massive amount of lightning jades and all of them would belong to Lei Shiyi in the end.

Even though the Immortal Emperor’s Finger Bone was precious, it was impossible to sell it at a very high price even if he sells it to other undead spirits.

Experts at the same level as Lei Shiyi would not have too much money. As for the Void Pierce Stage old monsters, if they know that Lei Shiyi has this item, they would not even need to buy it as they can just directly seize it away from him.

“This treasure belongs to you now!”

Lei Shiyi laughed heartily and passed the jade box to Ning Fan in a very straightforward manner. His eyes flashed with a hint of surprise and also a hint of relief.

That subtle expression on his face did not escape from Ning Fan’s observation.

Ning Fan took the jade box and felt a little stunned in his mind.

This Lei Shiyi really believes in me this much? He dares to hand the item to me first before I have even paid for it.

Then, he took a closer look at Lei Shiyi’s expression and he felt like he had understood something.

The surprise and delight in Lei Shiyi’s eyes were naturally of him being satisfied that he could sell the finger bone for a good price.

As for that hint of relief, what was he feeling relieved about?

It was like he had just let go of a large, heavy rock within his heart.

Ning Fan thought to himself.

Could it be that this Immortal Emperor’s Finger Bone is actually a hot potato to Lei Shiyi?

Mm. That’s very likely to be the case.

After pondering carefully, he found out that this Lei Shiyi seemed like he could not wait to sell this finger bone to him.

“Congratulations to Pavilion Lord Lei for successfully avoiding a calamity.”

Ning Fan kept the jade box. He was insinuating something by saying those words. What Ning Fan said startled the other party after hearing those words as he had seen through the latter’s plan behind this trade. Internally, he was impressed by Ning Fan’s insight and thus, he also no longer concealed that fact from him.

Telling lies in front of a smart person would only have an adverse effect.

“Precisely. Just like what Little Friend has guessed, this finger bone is indeed a little troublesome. That King Ying Long wants to obtain this finger bone but he is reluctant to pay for it. Hehe. That’s why this old man decided to sell it to you. After all, you aren’t a stingy person.”

“Oh? So in this case, if I eliminate King Ying Long, it will be equivalent to doing a great deed for Pavilion Lord. According to the rules of the Myriad Treasure Pavilion, how is Pavilion Lord going to return the favor if I do such a kind deed for you?” Ning Fan spoke with a fake smile.

“Hehe. These fourteen Crystals of Inheritance will be given to Little Friend as a gift. What do you think?”

“Do you think that’s enough? Those fourteen crystals are only worth 700 silver jades... Currently, I am not short of silver jades. I am only short of hands.” Ning Fan said calmly.

“Hehe. Little Friend can directly say what condition you have in mind. As long as it is reasonable and does not hurt the foundation of my Myriad Treasure Pavilion, it isn’t impossible for this old man to give a bit of support to Little Friend. However, if you want me to fight King Ying Long with my Myriad Treasure Pavilion, I will recommend that you go find someone more qualified than me. I can’t gamble the lives of the brothers under me!”

Lei Shiyi’s expression turned a little serious. He could already guess what Ning Fan’s want him to do.

Asking me and my entire Myriad Treasure Pavilion to join him and fight the final battle against King Ying Long, huh...?

He was not unwilling to go against King Ying Long. As a matter of fact, he hated King Ying Long in the first place. Speaking of which, how many Void Inquiry Stage old monsters on the first twenty-four floors liked being ruled by King Ying Long?

The lightning lord of the eleventh floor, Zhu Feng, was one of King Ying Long’s subordinates. That was also the reason why Lei Shiyi was on bad terms with him.

Honestly speaking, if Ning Fan could really kill Zhu Feng and King Ying Long, Lei Shiyi would be extremely pleased.

Moreover, Lei Shiyi believed that other than the servile followers of King Ying Long on the first twenty-four floors, most of the Void Inquiry Stage old monsters would not help King Ying Long to deal with Ning Fan.

However, Lei Shiyi did not think Ning Fan had the strength to kill King Ying Long.

Therefore, even if he wants to help Ning Fan, it would be impossible for him to help him to a point where King Ying Long would regard him as an enemy as well.

Lei Shiyi’s words had already revealed his bottom-line.

“A bit of support, huh... Fine. I will keep these Crystals of Inheritance. But I wonder to what extent the ‘bit of support’ that Pavilion Lord Lei could give?”

Ning Fan knew that Lei Shiyi would not dare to directly go against King Ying Long and he was not going to force him to do so. Golden purple smoke swirled from his palm and he directly put his hand into the formation light, disregarding its power. He took out the fourteen crystals within the formation and kept all of them into his storage pouch. Then, he separated all of the lightning jades he had into another pouch and handed it over to Lei Shiyi.

Lei Shiyi’s eyes narrowed grimly after witnessing Ning Fan break the formation with his golden purple mist. The power contained within that golden purple mist was too terrifying. He could not see through it at all!

After receiving the storage pouch, Lei Shiyi gently tossed it in his hands. He looked serious and pensive.

Perhaps Ning Fan would really be able to kill King Ying Long. If Lei Shiyi helps Ning Fan this time, he would probably be able to form a friendly tie with him in the future.

However, he had too many brothers behind his back. He could not put their lives on the line.

“I’m sorry. This old man can at most help Little Friend get rid of Zhu Feng and assist you in ascending to the eleventh floor. Even if King Ying Long asks about this matter, I can still explain that it was a result of our private fight.”

“Is that so...? That’s fine too. Three days! Three days later, I will return to the Myriad Treasure Pavilion. Then, I will kill all the way up to the eleventh floor. I hope Pavilion Lord can provide as much support as you can at that time. After all, the more undead spirits I kill, the more lightning jades I will obtain. When I leave this tower, these lightning jades will all still fall into Fellow Daoist’s pocket.”

As soon as Ning Fan finished talking, he draped a cloak over his body and literally vanished beside Lei Shiyi. He had probably already left.

Seeing Ning Fan disappear into thin air, Lei Shiyi’s eyes were filled with amazement. In the past when he heard rumors claiming that Ning Fan escaped from the pursuit of ten Void Glimpse Stage experts, he did not know how he did it and he even doubted the authenticity of these rumors. It was only now that he knew that Ning Fan’s concealment technique was actually so heaven-defying.

With such a technique, it would certainly be impossible for King Ying Long to kill Ning Fan!

No. Other than Void Fragmentation Realm experts, no one could see through Ning Fan’s concealment. With that being said, who else could find him and eliminate him?!

“King Ying Long is someone that can’t be provoked. This young man, however, is even much more terrifying than him...”

“It seems like this young man will certainly not leave the matter just like that if I don’t really put in some effort this time. Even though he carries a faint smile in every word he says during our conversation, his smile somehow made me feel a little afraid... His baleful qi is a bit too strong.”

Lei Shiyi’s mood was a bit complicated. However, when he recalled that he was going to make a killing soon, his mood became extremely good again.

He walked out of the formation light of the fourth level. Outside the formation, the five old monsters who had been waiting there were filled with confusion.

Since they were separated from Lei Shiyi and Ning Fan by the formation light, they were unable to hear their conversation.

But they saw Lei Shiyi take out an extremely precious item, the Immortal Emperor’s Finger Bone, and gave it to Ning Fan.

After that, they saw Ning Fan take out a terrifying cloak, draped it over his body and then vanished into thin air right before their very eyes!

Incomprehensible. All of this was too incomprehensible!

Without giving them a chance to ask, Lei Shiyi directly gave an order with an imposing tone.

“Be prepared for battle. Three days later, all members shall move out... There will be a great battle!”

“A great battle? What great battle?” Chu Nanfeng asked with confusion.

“The final battle against Zhu Feng!”

“What?! P-Pavilion Lord, are you joking with us? That Zhu Feng is extremely strong. Pavilion Lord has battled with him eleven times but ended up being defeated each and every time...”

“Therefore, this old man will never lose again this time. Do you think all the lightning jades that I have earned in recent years had been used on a dog’s body? Er...”

Lei Shiyi suddenly paused. He seemed to have just scolded himself.

“Get lost! No more objections are allowed! If someone still objects, I will spray dog sh** on his whole face! Er...”

It seemed like he scolded himself once more...

Seeing Lei Shiyi’s expression become more and more ghastly, Chu Nanfeng and the rest obediently shut their mouths. None of them dared to talk back at all.

All five of them had received great kindness from Lei Shiyi. If it was not for him, the five of them would never be able to live until today, let alone have a chance to attain the Void Refinement Realm.

Thus, even if Lei Shiyi wanted them to sacrifice themselves, they would not have any objections. In regards to the upcoming battle against Zhu Feng, they also did not think that Lei Shiyi would certainly lose.

In the past several centuries, Lei Shiyi had been earning lightning jades with great effort for him to devour. Now, his magic power was already far greater than before. This time, he might not necessarily lose to Zhu Feng.

“Since Pavilion Lord wants to go to battle, we will fight to death for you!” The five of them cupped their fists simultaneously as loyalty filled their chests.

When Zhu Feng arrogantly and casually came to the Myriad Treasure Pavilion and said that he would annihilate the entire Myriad Treasure Pavilion if Lei Shiyi does not hand over the emperor’s bone, he had already touched their reverse scale and infuriated them.

If there will be a battle, then bring it on!

...

Actually, Ning Fan did not actually leave the Myriad Treasure Pavilion immediately.

After he turned invisible, he stayed in the Myriad Treasure Pavilion for quite some time. He eavesdropped on the order that Lei Shiyi had given to the five old monsters and had also seen all the members of the pavilion preparing for battle.

Even though he had already met Lei Shiyi several times, it was still impossible for him to completely trust the latter in their cooperation.

After observing the situation for quite some time, he was gradually convinced that Lei Shiyi indeed had the intention to help him eliminate Zhu Feng. Thus, he could be considered as a reliable person.

Although Lei Shiyi’s behavior was somewhat despicable, he certainly had a certain level of charisma in him in order to make the five subordinates follow him even if it meant death for them.

Ning Fan could now be less worried about the Myriad Treasure Pavilion and focus on improving some of his means within the coming three days.

After he was now a million li* (500m per li) away from the Myriad Treasure Pavilion, he took off the invisibility cloak and directly entered the Profound Yin World.

He scanned the thatched cottage with his spirit sense. After seeing that Luo You was still sleeping soundly, he shook his head. He did not place any hope in Luo You helping him wipe out the Black Lightning Tower.

He sat down in a meditative position in the Profound Yin World. Then, he patted his storage pouch and took out a few hundred jade boxes. When he exerted his magic power, he made all of them float in the air.

Tens of traces of primordial lightning were sealed inside each of these jade boxes.

There were ten thousand traces of primordial lightning here in total. If Ning Fan devours all of them, the grade of his Primordial Lightning Armor would be raised to a terrifying level.

With the sword qi from one of his fingers, he cut open a jade box. He opened his mouth and absorbed all the primordial lightning into his abdomen and refined them into the lightning armor in his dantian.

Within his dantian, his primordial spirit which was the size of his palm was wearing a set of golden lightning armor and was resting while sitting cross-legged.

When he sensed primordial lightning entering Ning Fan’s abdomen, he immediately opened his tiny eyes and formed a series of hand seals with his small hands. His expression looked rather serious.

“Refine!”

Traces of power from the primordial lightning were absorbed into the lightning armor.

With the accelerated refinement speed in the Profound Yin World which was one hundred times faster than in the outside world, the whole process did not take too long.

After that, Ning Fan crushed each of the jade boxes and refined traces upon traces of primordial lightning into his lightning armor.

The amount of primordial lightning that was needed for his lightning armor which was currently at the first level of the gold grade to achieve a breakthrough to the second level was extremely large.

Every time the lightning armor absorbed one new trace of primordial lightning, the golden color on its surface would become a little more dazzling. After absorbing three thousand traces of primordial lighting, the lightning armor shone with a golden light. It finally achieved an advancement and broke through to the second level.

After arriving at the second level, the defense of the lightning armor had increased to a frightening level. It could now completely withstand attacks even if they’re from Void Inquiry Stage old monsters.

With the second-level gold grade lightning armor, Ning Fan could block a single strike from a Void Inquiry Stage expert and disregard full-powered attacks from a Void Glimpse Stage cultivator. However, this level of lightning armor was still not enough to resist King Ying Long.

The amount of lightning power needed by his primordial spirit in order to make his current lightning armor advance to the third level was even more massive.

All of the remaining seven thousand traces of primordial lightning were refined into his lightning armor but they were only enough for the lightning armor to complete half of its advancement. It would still need at least 6000 traces of primordial lightning in order to break through to the third level.

Ning Fan’s eyes turned solemn. He had misjudged the difficulty in advancing his lightning armor.

Fortunately, the basic defense of the second-level lightning armor had greatly increased after absorbing the remaining primordial lightning although it had yet to advance to the third level. Now it seemed like Void Inquiry Stage experts who were at the same level as Lei Shiyi would probably not be able to break Ning Fan’s defense.

“If it’s just killing Zhu Feng, the lightning lord of the eleventh floor, the current level of my lightning armor can be considered to be more than enough... Next! I shall reforge my Separation Slayer Sword!”

Ning Fan patted his storage pouch and the item he took out this time was a piece of two-star divine iron.

The star power in this piece of Immemorial Star Iron was more than a few times stronger compared to the one contained in the one-star divine iron which he obtained in the past.

He took out the Separation Slayer Sword and tempered it by fusing the two-star divine iron with it.

Ning Fan still had to get rid of the impurities within the sword. This time, however, the impurities also included all of the one-star divine iron!

Under the heat of his black flames, the body of the Separation Slayer Sword began to change. Gradually, it became as thin as the translucent wings of a cicada. There was even clear starlight rotating on its surface. The light given out by the sword was also cold as autumn water.

After the tempering process, the grade of the Separation Slayer Sword rose. Now, it was close to attaining the Mid Grade Mortal Void Realm!

The sharpness of the sword light which was like limpid autumn water gave Ning Fan an extremely dangerous feeling. Once he delivers a slash that shoots a ray of sword light, it would then split into millions of sword threads which would shred everything they touched to pieces!

If one’s primordial spirit or vital areas are cut by this sword, even Void Glimpse Stage experts would likely die with a single slash!

With this sword in his hands together with his Heaven Deceiving Cloak, Ning Fan could absolutely stealthily kill a Void Glimpse Stage expert with a single strike!

Only half a day had passed after he upgraded his lightning armor and reforged his Separation Slayer Sword.

He patted his storage pouch and took out the fourteen pieces of Crystals of Inheritance. His eyes scrutinized every one of them.

I wonder if there is any inheritance of secret techniques within these crystals.

Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel