Grasping Evil

He then returned to Seven Apricot City and brought Ming Que along with him to head over the Dark Sparrow’s Grave of the Sinister Sparrow Sect.

Without a doubt, when little Ming Que left the Dark Sparrow’s Grave secretly in the past, Min Luo Treant must have been extremely worried about her.

Needless to say, Ming Que would also miss Grandpa Min Luo very much after being separated from him for so many years.

The two of them arrived at the Earth Origin Palace of the Sinister Sparrow Sect. This time, Ning Fan did not use the teleportation formation of that place to get to the underground like before.

He put his hand around Ming Que’s slender waist and directly displayed the Earth Movement Technique, diving one hundred thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) down into the underground.

The weight of the one hundred thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) of earth was enough to crush a Gold Core Realm cultivator to death. To Ning Fan, however, it naturally was nothing.

The two of them appeared on the first floor of the Dark Sparrow’s Grave. The place in front of their eyes was pitch-black. The sky was cold and rainy. The rain intent did not disperse, just like before.

The rain on the first floor of the grave carried the chills that one could feel in early spring. Hence, it was a spring rain.

Ning Fan’s eyes flashed with remembrance. Holding the blood umbrella over his head, he accompanied Ming Que to walk in the falling spring rain.

Ming Que, on the other hand, was filled with concern. She was chewing Fifth Revolution pills while looking at Ning Fan with a pleading look.

“Big Brother Biscuit, when I left the Dark Sparrow’s Grave in the past, I did not say goodbye to Grandpa. He must be very worried and angry at me... When we meet him later, you must put in a good word for me. Please don’t let grandpa smack my buttocks...”

“Silly girl. Your grandpa might look cold and stern but he is very nice to you. He can’t be happier to see you return. How will he still think about whacking you...? He is your grandpa. He is your relative...”

“Is it true?! Will Granpda really not beat me?!” A ray of demonic black light flickered in Ming Que’s dark eyes. She immediately became cheerful again after hearing what Ning Fan said.

While she was jumping and waving her hands happily, she actually released a hint of Void Inquiry Stage aura force...

During the time when Ning Fan went to the Demon Sinister Forest, Ming Que had already finished all the pills that she had and broken through to the Void Inquiry Stage...

When Ning Fan returned to Seven Apricot City and saw her attain the Void Inquiry Stage, he was literally speechless.

It was just less than a year since she had broken through to the Void Glimpse Stage. She now had advanced into the Void Inquiry Stage... Wouldn’t her speed in cultivation be a little too terrifying?!

However, after giving it some thought, Ning Fan found that it was quite reasonable for her to break through to the Void Inquiry Stage so rapidly.

Her body was sealed with a void poison. It was a seal that Ning Fan personally placed on her forty years ago. It was the poison from the tail wing of an Immemorial Dark Sparrow and it contained an immeasurable amount of demon power.

The power that the void poison contained was equivalent to the total sum of magic power of a Void Refinement Realm cultivator.

Before breaking through to the Void Glimpse Stage, Ming Que had yet to assimilate the power from it.

However, after attaining the Void Glimpse Stage, she began assimilating its demon power while nibbling Fifth Revolution pills. Her magic power increased more than one fold within a year and thus made her break through to the Void Inquiry Stage so quickly...

That little pill devil was truly heaven-defying. However, she had already assimilated the void poison completely. Therefore, her cultivation base would not progress at such terrifying speed anymore.

In order to break through to the Void Pierce Stage, the only choice she had was to chew Sixth Revolution pills...

“Big Brother Biscuit, I miss Grandpa. I miss my rain babies, wolf babies and medicine babies...” Ming Que chirped like a happy twittering bird. Ning Fan just listened to her with a faint smile on his face while walking toward the lower floors.

The second floor of the Dark Sparrow’s Grave was filled with summer rain.

The third floor of the grave had no rain.

Autumn rain fell on the fourth floor and ice rain fell on the fifth floor.

Ning Fan stood on the fifth floor for a long time. The pit of earth flames that he used to concoct pills for Ming Que at this place in the past was still at the same spot.

He could still remember the sentence which struck him back then.

What is rain? If I turn my palm, it becomes clouds. If I turn my palm again, it will rain!

All those Divine Transformation Realm demon beasts which laughed at Ning Fan in the past immediately prostrated themselves on the ground upon seeing Ning Fan’s appearance. None of them dared to steal a glance at him.

In their eyes, the white-robed young man who was holding a blood umbrella was too dangerous. He was someone who was capable of slaughtering every last one of the demon beasts on the fifth floor easily!

Those ferocious beasts could never think that the white-robed malevolent being appearing in front of their eyes was the insignificant Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivator forty years ago.

“Big Brother Biscuit, they looked down on you last time. Do you want to teach them a lesson?!” Ming Que beamed, revealing her adorable canine teeth. She adjusted her golden crown and swung her fists, looking as if she wanted to have a fight with those ferocious beasts.

“The past is dead. Let’s just head to the sixth floor...”

Ning Fan gently held Ming Que’s tender palm in his hand to prevent her from running around and causing unnecessary trouble.

Holding the blood umbrella over their heads, they walked past the ice rain. The coldness was no longer bone-chilling. It could only make Ning Fan feel slightly cold.

The sixth floor of the Dark Sparrow’s Grave was filled with sword rain!

Inducing killing intent with an intention. Summoning swords with the killing intent. Forming the rain with the swords and killing others with the rain...

It was the Slaughtering Rain. However, it could no longer make Ning Fan’s mind waver at all depending on its killing intent.

As Ning fan was walking on the sixth floor, he spread out his spirit sense to cover the vicinity of two hundred thousand li*(500m per li). Gradually, his brows were drawn slightly together.

Strange. It was very strange...

There actually were not as many Void Refinement Realm ferocious beasts as there were in the past on the sixth floor.

In the past, there were at least one hundred plus Void Refinement Realm ferocious beasts here. Today, however, there were just five to six of them left and they seemed to be carrying serious injuries. As soon as they saw Ning Fan approach them, they were trembling in fear instantly.

There were still many traces of an intense battle on the mountains and rivers around the floor...

“Hmm? There should have been many demon babies on the sixth floor in the past. Why are there just as few as these now...?” Even Ming Que had noticed the abnormal situation.

With a frown, Ning Fan spread out his spirit sense to inspect the qi of the magic power that was left behind in the area.

The qi of the expert who destroyed the mountains and rivers here is very familiar...

“I see. It’s him who killed a vast number of Void Refinement Realm ferocious beasts here... Let’s have a look at the seventh floor.”

Ning Fan seemed to have an answer in mind and directly held Ming Que to head to the seventh floor.

Forty years ago, there were six demon beasts which were at the First Heavenly Layer and Second Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm in total residing on the seventh floor. Today, however, there was literally none of them...

The thunder and rain on the seventh floor was still as wild and violent as before. It still contained Que Shenzi’s realization – the flat ground creates the lightning and the sky produces the rain, I want to kill!”

However, the landscape within one million li* (500m per li) was flattened and could not be restored to its original state!

Ning Fan spread out his spirit sense and discovered six traces of extremely dense baleful qi that were lingering on the seventh floor. Each of them was left behind by a deceased Void Fragmentation Realm expert.

Even though Ning Fan had tentatively figured out who killed these ferocious beasts, he was still immensely astonished... All the six Void Fragmentation Realm ferocious beasts of the seventh floor had actually died in that person’s hands!

“Hmm? The sixth Void Fragmentation Realm demon babies on the seventh floor are all gone as well...” Ming Que said in a surprised tone.

“They’re all dead. Someone has killed them.” Ning Fan uttered indifferently.

“H-How come?! The six demon babies of this floor are all at the Void Fragmentation Realm. Who was so powerful to actually kill them all...? This is too frightening!” Ming Que said with her mouth agape in shock.

“Let’s go and take a look at the eighth floor...”

The eight floor of the Dark Sparrow’s Grave was filled with heaven defying rain!

Ning Fan and Ming Que set foot on the eight floor together. As soon as he saw the war-worn area and sensed the baleful qi that was lingering on the place, he immediately sighed and said.

“There is no need to see anymore. All the Void Fragmentation Realm demon beasts on the eighth floor are dead...”

In the past, there were three Void Fragmentation Realm experts residing on the eight floor. Two of them were at the Third Heavenly Layer and the other one was at the Fourth Heavenly Layer... All of them had once tried to attack Ning Fan.

“So many Void Fragmentation Realm demon babies were dead. Will Grandpa also be in danger?! Who’s it? Who entered the Dark Sparrow’s Grave and killed so many Void Fragmentation Realm demon babies?! I want to go and find Grandpa. I’m very worried about him. He must not die!” Ming Que nearly cried out of anxiety.

Ning Fan patted her head without knowing whether to laugh or cry and comforted her.

“Silly girl, haven’t you noticed it yet? The person who killed all the beasts from the sixth floor to the eighth floor was none other than your Grandpa Min Luo. Other than him, who else in the Rain World could be so powerful as to kill all the nine Void Fragmentation Realm demon beasts in the Dark Sparrow’s Grave... ?”

“Eh? Really? That means that Grandpa is safe, right? It nearly scared me to death. I thought something bad happened to Grandpa also.” Ming Que patted her chest adorably and put on her cheerful face again.

Ning Fan let out a light sigh in amazement. Even experts like Rain Sovereign and Yun Tianjue also would not be able to wipe out all the nine Void Fragmentation Realm beasts in the grave.

Min Luo Treant, however, managed to slaughter every last one of them with just his own strength. His cultivation base was indeed unimaginably high!

Among the nine Void Fragmentation Realm ferocious beasts, the one with the strongest cultivation base was at the Fourth Heavenly Layer. Even so, all of them still ended up dead in Min Luo’s hands.

Ning Fan recalled that Min Luo had one hundred thousand Divine Transformation Realm clones in total in the past. When the demon power of one hundred thousand clones combined into one and formed into a single clone, that clone’s cultivation base would reach the Fifth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm!

Since just his clone alone was already at the Fifth Heavenly Layer, what exactly was the cultivation base of Min Luo Treant’s true body?

Ning Fan had never thought about this question in the past. Today, however, he was really interested to find out.

Ming Que and he walked to the entrance of the ninth floor. A short and small old man stood there like a tree stump. With a somber rigid old face, he glared at Ming Que angrily. His turbid old eyes clearly contained a hint of joy but he deliberately pretended to be fierce and scolded Ming Que.

“Humph! Naughty girl! Do you only know about coming home now? Do you know how worried I have been about you in the past forty years?!”

The short old man was Min Luo Treant’s clone and his presence emanated an aura force at the Fifth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm.

When he reprimanded Ming Que coldly, she immediately felt a lump in her throat. She sat on the ground and began crying loudly.

“Grandpa, I’m sorry. I knew my mistake. I won’t do that again next time...”

As soon as Ming Que started crying, the old man immediately wore a pained expression. He walked toward her, blaming himself for what he did. He actually just made the cute and naïve little Ming Que cry by scolding her. It’s a mistake, a huge mistake...

“It’s Grandpa’s fault. I should not have scolded you. Don’t cry, Ming Que.” The tiny old man was at a loss. He did not know how he should coax Ming Que.

“If you let me eat a lot of medicine babies, then I will stop crying...” Ming Que sobbed aggrievedly but her eyes contained a hint of cunning.

She might be able to hide it from Min Luo who was distracted by his concern for her but there was no way she could get past Ning Fan’s eyes.

Ning Fan did not know whether to laugh or cry. Ming Que had been really corrupted by bad examples after her trip to the Endless Sea. She actually knew how to shed crocodile tears.

In order to stop Ming Que from crying, the old man naturally chose to promise her everything she wanted.

“Alright. Alright. I’ll give you all the spiritual medicine you want to eat. Don’t cry anymore, my little ancestor. Don’t cry until you hurt yourself.”

Ming Que was a Void Inquiry Stage cultivator. Would she get hurt by crying? Min Luo really pampered Ming Que too much.

Ning Fan shook his head and grabbed little Ming Que’s collar, pulling her up from the ground.

“Stop crying. If you continue to cry, I will never refine pills for you to eat in the future.”

“I-I... I’ll stop crying. I’ll stop crying immediately!” Ming Que rubbed her face against Ning Fan’s sleeve, wiping off her tears and mucus, and smiled.

Min Luo was stunned for a second. He was a man with extensive experience. However, his concern for Ming Que had clouded his judgement. At this moment, he instantly realized that he was deceived by Ming Que who was weeping crocodile tears and had no idea whether to laugh or cry.

However, upon seeing Ming Que be safe and sound, he could not be happier. Thus, he no longer put on a stern face to scold her.

When he carefully inspected Ming Que’s cultivation base, his expression changed at once and said, “It has only been forty years and you’ve actually assimilated all the void poison within you! Moreover, your cultivation base has reached the Void Inquiry Stage! This truly is...”

Even a super powerful expert like Min Luo was also surprised by Ming Que’s terrifying progress in cultivation.

“The reason why I could improve my cultivation base and assimilate the void poison so rapidly is all thanks to Big Brother Biscuit who gave me many delicious pill biscuits...” Ming Que pulled Ning Fan’s dirty sleeve and wore an affectionate expression.

Min Luo was stunned again. Only now did he begin to study Ning Fan carefully.

“It’s you!”

Ning Fan was speechless. Apparently, Min Luo completely had no sense of Ning Fan’s presence at all for literally ignoring him all this time and only noticing him now.

“You’ve actually broken through to the Void Glimpse Stage!!!” Min Luo said in astonishment.

Little Ming Que had a pill devil physique and also possessed the royal bloodline of the Immemorial Dark Sparrow. Therefore, it was explainable for the sharp increase in her cultivation base.

However, based on Min Luo’s previous observation, Ning Fan definitely did not have any unique physique.

Even though he cultivated an immemorial devil cultivation method, it was just Yin Yang Transformation which was a set of dual-cultivation method that was not of the best fiendgod cultivation methods.

It had only been forty years and Ning Fan’s cultivation method actually had also attained the Void Refinement Realm. To Min Luo, it was much more shocking than seeing Ming Que achieving the Void Refinement Realm...

After forty years, Min Luo looked at Ning Fan with respect from the aspect of cultivation for the first time.

He carefully inspected Ning Fan and felt an extremely terrifying baleful qi from him. Immediately, his old eyes widened with amazement!

The intensity of that trace of baleful qi was clearly something that one would gain only after killing an expert at the Fifth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm!

Other than a Void Fragmentation Realm baleful qi, the amount of baleful qi in Ning Fan was enough to tell how many killings he had gone through in the past forty years...

“It certainly was not an accident for this young man to be able to achieve the Void Refinement Realm at the age of five hundred years old! He might not have the most outstanding innate talents, but I’m afraid even some of the Void Fragmentation Realm devils in the Tree World won’t be able to rival him in terms of his ruthless personality!”

Min Luo put on a serious face and suddenly said with his fists cupped, “This little girl, Ming Que, was immature for sneaking out of the Dark Sparrow’s Grave. Thank you for bringing her back safely! I, Min Luo, have owed you another favor! If you face any trouble that needs my help, just voice out and I’ll certainly do my best to aid you!”

Ning Fan wore a faint smile. Things had progressed even more smoothly than his expectations.

Before he had even opened his mouth, Min Luo had already promised to help him as a way to repay him.

Ning Fan cupped his fists at Min Luo. He did not mention about the aid which he needed from him first. Instead, he asked, “Senior, if I may be so bold, are you the one who killed the Void Fragmentation Realm ferocious beasts on the sixth, seventh and eighth floor?”

“Yes! That brat, She Ji, and the others on the eighth floor tried to attack Ming Que in the past. It’s naturally impossible for me to let them go. I’ve killed every last one of them. As for the beasts on the other floors, *cough* they just ran out of luck. After Ming Que had sneaked out, I’ve been worried day in and day out. When I was in a bad mood, they still wanted to enrage me by crying and wailing annoyingly...”

There was no need for Min Luo to finish the rest. Without a doubt, Min Luo’s mood was completely ruined because of Ming Que’s secret departure and killed all the Void Fragmentation Realm ferocious beasts to vent out his anger...

Min Luo sure was a violent treant. He was so brutal to everyone else except for Ming Que...

Luckily, Ning Fan had a deep relationship with Ming Que which made him a friend to Min Luo. If Min Luo is having a bad mood in the future, it’ll be impossible for him to vent out his anger on Ning Fan.

“This junior still has one more question. What level has your true body’s cultivation base reached?!” Ning Fan asked another question.

“Do you want to know?” Min Luo’s rigid old face made an ugly smile. His old eyes flashed with a hint of pride. The answer he gave Ning Fan gave him a jolt of surprise.

“My original body, which is a tree body, is at the level of a rogue demon!”

“Rogue demon!”

Ning Fan was flabbergasted. The original body of the small old man with a wretched appearance actually was a rogue demon...

Rogue demons, rogue immortals and rogue devils... Individuals at these levels were already standing at the pinnacle of the Void Fragmentation Realm. There were none of them in the Lower Three Worlds.

The Nine Worlds were divided based on their strength into three different categories which were the Upper Three Worlds, Middle Three Worlds and the Lower Three Worlds.

The Upper Three Worlds included the Devil World, Demon World and Heaven Immortal World. They were the three strongest worlds of the Nine World with old monsters at the level of rogue immortals residing there.

The Middle Three Worlds included the Immortal World, Mountain World and Fire World. Even though there were no countless Void Fragmentation Realm experts at the level of a rogue immortal in them, the strength of their cultivators was not the members of the Rain World could rival.

The Lower Three Worlds were the Tree World, Sword World and Rain World. The Tree World and Sword World were more powerful than the Rain World while the Rain Word was the weakest of all the Nine Worlds...

Tree Demon min Luo was born in the Tree World but he managed to cultivate to the level of rogue demon. This was truly shocking.

Unfortunately, Min Luo could not leave the Dark Sparrow’s Grave. If he could, Ning Fan would just need his help once as it would be more than enough to eliminate Moksha Sovereign.

Ning Fan sighed inwardly. He could not bring Min Luo’s original body out of the Dark Sparrow’s Grave this time. What he could do at most was to bring Min Luo’s clone that was at the Fifth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm out.

Besides, even if he brings the clone out, the clone must stay within Yue Country and could not go beyond the area of fifty million li* (500m per li).

The function of Min Luo’s clone was not more than looking after his home and protecting Yue Country...

“Senior, this junior has a way that can bring your clone out of the Dark Sparrow’s Grave. I wonder if you are willing to let your clone leave this place and see the scenery outside?”

“Oh? Do you have such capabilities?” Min Luo was stunned at first. Then, he gave Ning Fan a meaningful look and said with a faint smile, “Young kid, you have something that requires me help, don’t you?”

“Precisely. I indeed have a method that can help your clone to leave the Dark Sparrow’s Grave but the range of activity is restricted to within fifty million li* (500m per li) of Yue Country. Moreover, it’s true that I have something that needs your help... My families are all in Yue Country and I hope you can protect them on my behalf when I am not around. With you around, I suppose that the Divine Sovereign of the Rain World comes personally, he also won’t be able to hurt my loved ones.” Ning Fan said earnestly.

“The Divine Sovereign of the Rain World. *Tsk* What is he? If I act personally, I can eliminate him with a few moves... But... *chuckle* You are a little too greedy, aren’t you? I promised to do you a favor but you actually asked me, a dignified rogue demon, to help you guard your home. I am not going to lend you a hand on this.” Min Luo waved his hand and refused to help Ning Fan.

“Ming Que is also one of my family members. She will stay in Yue Country and also might face danger.” What Ning Fan implied was: you might not be willing to look after someone else’s house, but you should be willing to do so for Ming Que, right?

As expected, when Min Luo heard that Ming Que might be in danger, his eyes flashed with hesitation. After becoming silent for a while, he stared at Ning Fan with dissatisfaction and said, “Fine! For Ming Que’s sake, I will help you protect the goddamn Yue Country... However, I still want to ask you this. Do you actually have a way to let my clone leave the Dark Sparrow’s Grave and have a breath of freedom outside?”

“Of course!”

“Very well! If you really can do it, helping you look after Yue Country will be similar to getting some fresh air outside. So why not?!” Min Luo burst into laughter. He had not left the Dark Sparrow’s Grave for countless years.

“By the way, this junior has a question to ask you... About the Void Fragmentation Realm beasts that you’ve killed, do you still keep their corpses?” Ning Fan suddenly raised a question.

“Yes. They were nine Void Fragmentation Realm ferocious beasts. Their skin, flesh and demon pills are excellent items... Hmm? Do you want their corpses?”

“Indeed!” Ning Fan said candidly without any pretense.

“Oh? I’m really curious. What’s the use of these corpses for you?”

“Brewing wine and refining pills!” Ning Fan’s eyes glistened.

If all the essence blood of those nine Void Fragmentation Realm ferocious beasts were used for brewing the blood wine and all their flesh were used for refining Fierce Cultivation Pill, Ning fan’s magic power and spirit sense would certainly be boosted sharply!

“I’ve heard about the corpses’ use in pill refinement. As for wine brewing... Hehe. I haven’t heard of anyone using Void Fragmentation Realm beasts to brew wine. I’m sorry. I didn’t say that I’m going to give those corpses to you. I’m also a demon. Devouring their corpses can help me increase my cultivation base...”

Before Min Luo had finished speaking, Ming Que persistently pulled his sleeve and pleaded to him. Her eyes seemed to be able to shoot out twinkling stars of innocence.

“Grandpa. My good Grandpa. Big Brother Biscuit is very nice to me. You just give those corpses to him, okay? Please...”

“If he uses those corpses to refine pills, I can also eat those pills which will also increase my magic power. Right? If you don’t give those corpses to Big Brother Biscuit, then you don’t truly adore me...”

Under the influence of Ming Que’s naïve eyes, Min Luo helplessly let out a sigh.

“Alright. Alright. I’ll give all those corpses to your Big Brother Biscuit. I don’t want a single one of them. Is that alright...? *Sigh* A daughter’s heart always sides with her lover. A grown girl really can’t be kept at home...”

Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel