Grasping Evil

Chapter 27: Incense Flame Sword

Chapter 27: Incense Flame Sword

His mind continuously communicated with the Yin Yang Locket.

Ning Fan knew that with his strength, he couldn’t force Si Wuxie to directly deal with him no matter what, and he definitely couldn’t survive half of Si Wuxie’s attack…

The law of the cultivation world was the law of the jungle. Even though he was a Harmonious Spirit cultivator, he was still part of the weak.

“Have you woken up…?” He asked the Yin Yang Locket.

“Mmmh… Your heart is so chaotic that it’s causing a torrential downpour inside the locket, how can I sleep in peace…” The mysterious woman in the Yin Yang Locket complained.

“Lend me your power, please? Consider I, Ning Fan, owing you a debt.”

“My power is isolated by the Yin Yang Locket… But I have a method to help you…”

“What is your requirement!?”

“One day, save me from this place…”

“I will!”

After those two words came out, a very strong aura gradually rose.

A singular magical power — like the gentle water — dimly washed over the Separation Slayer and eventually turned into a Black Flame.

Ning Fan was still at Harmonious Spirit, but this one sword borrowed the power of this mysterious woman just this one time…

He didn’t care for Si Wuxie’s origin… At this moment, in his heart, there were only four words.

Vengeance must be paid!

“This is big sis?s Incense Flame power… Today, there is only this little left, but this much is enough for you to use one sword.”

“Thank you…”

This one blade, the Fire Transformation Sword, channeled the power of Yin and Yang. It encompassed the Separation Slayer along with the killing intent of an Immortal Emperor’s whole life!

And this wisp of Incense Flame caused Ning Fan to quietly close his eyes.

He would never be able to reproduce this sword again before immortal ascension, but this one sword was already stunning enough…

Si Wuxie’s expression greatly soured. Ning Fan clearly was only at Harmonious Spirit, but he was powering up such a sword aura that frightened even him.

“This is…” He hesitated in horror but he understood that he must never allow Ning Fan to completely perform this one sword attack!

He waved his long sleeve. Each attack carried a rainbow-colored ray that had enough power to easily tear Ning Fan apart.

This was the number one expert of Yue… Ning Fan… Unless he cultivated to form his core, he would never be able to stop one or two attacks… Channeling this one strike rendered him feeble, so all of the attacks were blocked by the old monster.

Next to him was still the old monster watching and waiting.

He saw Ning Fan seizing Si Wuxie’s flying sword. Even though he was not clear on the circumstances, he could discern that Ning Fan wanted to settle the score with Si Wuxie with this one blow. If Ning Fan was alone, he wouldn’t be able to perform this sword, but as his master, how could he just stand still and watch? Is that a joke?

When a disciple was in trouble, what should a master do? Of course support him ah! One cauldron and one flame with both of his hands to help kill Si Wuxie, this was the right course of action!

One versus one, playing fair? What a joke. Ning Fan was two great realms lower than Si Wuxie, is this playing fair?

Indeed, the old monster didn’t want to fight to the bitter end versus Si Wuxie. However, if he had to pick between Si Wuxie and Ning Fan, he would definitely choose Ning Fan. The Black Evil Sect valued the relationship between the master and disciple!

“Han Yuanji, you still hinder me?” Si Wuxie angrily exclaimed.

“Of course!” The old monster laughed with a “haha”.

To an evil cultivator, what is fairness? Having more people was fairness; having a bigger fist was fairness! As for the old monster, fairness was not part of his lexicon!

“Han Yuanji, you are only part of the ‘Four Deacons’, do you seriously want to offend your higher ups!?”

“Haha, Si Wuxie, you androgynous monster, less nonsense, take this cauldron!”

This cauldron came down unexpectedly on Si Wuxie. His beautiful face lost its colors. He could only bite his teeth to block it, then he angrily shouted: “What are you waiting for? Come stop this person from condensing his sword energy!”

This remark was addressed to the onlooking Gold Core experts.

These Heaven Separation elders were all seriously injured and moved far away earlier out of fear of being involved in this battle.

At this moment, after hearing Si Wuxie’s command, they faced the bullet and rushed towards Ning Fan.

However, Ning Fan chillingly glared as his sword’s brilliance slightly moved. The dozen elders of the Heaven Separation Sect could not approach any closer!

They had an intuition that death was certain if they were touched by the sword’s brilliance!

“This is, Incense Flame…”

At this moment, Ning Fan’s sword aura was completed and he slashed his sword!

The closest Heaven Separation elders were directly cut by the sword.

This sword’s brilliance carried a strand of Ethereal intent, causing Ning Fan — who was clearly of Harmonious Spirit cultivation — to unleash a sword with the power of a peak Gold Core powerhouse!

He was not holding anything back because he wants to destroy the Heaven Separation…

This was his obsession…

“Master, let me go!”

His whole body seemed to turn into a sword ray as he flew straight towards Si Wuxie.

“Not good!” Si Wuxie’s charming face greatly changed. He tapped his storage pouch and a supreme rank flying sword aimed for Ning Fan’s chest.

However, this sword first quaked after meeting Ning Fan’s sword ray body, then it immediately shattered into numerous pieces!

A supreme rank flying sword capable of causing countless Gold Core experts of Yue to go crazy was broken in this manner!

This was Si Wuxie’s first time feeling fear for he saw the craziness in Ning Fan’s eyes!

A mad evil silhouette along with a deranged gaze… This one sword did not care for anything… An insane sword!

With a shocked expression on his beautiful face, he pulled out a jade ornament wanting say a special incantation.

If he could unleash this incantation, then he could borrow a strand of his monstrous power from his real body using this jade ornament!

This jade was named “Boundary Jade” — it was extremely precious and rare!

“Break!” However, Si Wuxie could only hear a word as cold as ice from Ning Fan.

This Boundary Jade was slashed into pieces without any mercy by the one sword!

This sword ray was already approaching Si Wuxie’s body. Fast, way too fast!

Si Wuxie’s body was surrounded by the sword’s brilliance as if millions of needles pierced his body and meridians. He began to lose his consciousness.

But before losing his awareness, he begrudgingly stared at Ning Fan. He could not imagine that this insignificant ant would be able to borrow the power of the Incense Flame to harm him during his fight with the old monster…

Hateful, truly hateful!

“Aaa, so what if you two kill me, I am only an avatar of my true self. Kill me and my true self will know that there is something wrong in the Rain World, and he will absolutely think of a way to descend… You borrowing the Incense Flame is truly extraordinary, but you don’t know that your master has countless enemies in the Four Heavens. Kill me and my true body will lead your master’s enemies here and destroy him!”

Hearing these words, Ning Fan’s mad eyes suddenly quivered and a hint of clarity made him suspend his last sword’s ray to spare Si Wuxie’s life.

‘This Si Wuxie before them is only an avatar? So that's how it is… He is an expert in the Four Heavens and created an external avatar?’

Creating an external avatar could only be learned by Void Fragmentation old devils. This Si Wuxie, his true body must be Void Fragmentation at the very least, and it could be even higher.

No wonder why it was said that the water in the Heaven Separation Sect was very deep, so this was the reason…

Kill one avatar but it might lead the old monster’s enemies down to the Rain World, to the land of Yue, to confront the old monster…

‘The old monster helped me save Ning Gu. Am I going to harm the old monster…’

‘Cannot kill him…’

He curbed his killing intent in his heart and suddenly withdrew his sword ray.

And once this sword dissipated, the Incense Flame also disappeared. It was as if he lost the strength in his entire body. The reversal strain on his body was truly not light, but he still stubbornly gripped Si Wuxie’s shoulders.

Si Wuxie’s beautiful expression changed. He couldn’t believe that his simple words were enough to frighten Ning Fan.

Meanwhile, the old monster noticed that Ning Fan was struggling inside when he stopped.

He knew that Ning Fan truly hated the Heaven Separation Sect, so he brought him here.

The biggest present for the master-apprentice ceremony was to save Ning Gu!

However, the old monster didn’t think that Ning Fan would let go of his hatred just for him.

‘Taking in this disciple, was not a mistake…’

“So? Don’t dare to kill me ah!” Si Wuxie’s immortal veins were crushed so his magical power was gone, being left with no capability to resist.

“Won’t kill… I won’t kill you, but I have a way to deal with you! Just you wait!” Ning Fan crazily suppressed his murderous intent. He couldn’t kill Si Wuxie because he could not involve the old monster… But he, he could not spare Si Wuxie!

His sword tip slightly leaned towards Si Wuxie’s chest and unleashed a fiery sword, penetrating his stomach. The sword energy minced his Gold Core and destroyed Si Wuxie’s chance of recrafting his immortal veins, then he immediately sheathed his sword.

His left hand picked up the unconscious Ning Gu from the clouds, and his right hand changed into a fist that channeled energy to strike Si Wuxie’s chest, rendering him into a coma.

This palm caused Si Wuxie to vomit blood as he flew backward while Ning Fan had a strange expression. He reached out again to carry Si Wuxie on his shoulder…

Si Wuxie’s chest was so soft and even more busty than Little Zhihe’s underdeveloped chest… This person was truly strange — not man nor woman…

His gaze then swept to the dozen living elders of the Heaven Separation Sect and sneered.

“Si Wuxie has been captured and the Heaven Separation is destroyed. All of you, don’t even dream about remaining alive!”

Within the one hundred miles of the Heaven Separation Sect, not even a fly remained.

The elders’ faces turned deathly pale after meeting Ning Fan’s gaze.

It was only a brief moment since the formation of the Incense Flame sword and the defeat of Si Wuxie.

These elders were heavily injured and dropped a realm so they essentially couldn’t escape. They initially counted on Sect Master Wuxie to scare the old monster and Ning Fan away, but the thought of Si Wuxie’s defeat under Ning Fan’s hands never crossed their minds.

“Yue’s number one expert… His true body is a grand character from the Four Heavens, yet he was captured by a young man… This, how could this have happened!”

The elders knew that this was not good. They wanted to escape, but it was too late.

They were hurt by the grand formation and their Gold Cores were crippled. For those who were seriously injured, don’t even dream about escaping.

The old monster’s killing urge rose and unleashed a palm to kill an escaping elder. And as for Ning Fan, even though both of his hands were carrying people, he could still use his divine sense to control the Separation Slayer to kill these elders. His killing rate was not slow at all.

Separation Slayer, Separation Slayer. This sword was named the Separation Slayer, wouldn’t it be a waste if it wasn’t killing those of the Heaven Separation Sect?

Out of the fifteen escaping elders, the old monster killed nine and Ning Fan only killed six. This pair of master and disciple was killing with one hand and taking the dead’s storage pouches with the other. They did not hesitate with killing and robbing.

And during the killing of one of the elders, Ning Fan was slightly taken aback because he received an unexpected harvest.

After killing this elder with one slash, his body and flesh — along with the dissipating energy — suddenly fused together and slowly transformed into a yellow fruit about the size of a longan. There were mysterious outlines on top of it. Ripples were flowing around it as strands of exotic fragrances wafted from within the fruit.

Dao Fruit… Killing the Heaven Separation elders actually resulted in a Dao Fruit…

After all, before death, these elders all had a Gold Core cultivation. From Gold Core and up, all of these elders had a chance of turning into a Dao Fruit once they died.

His divine sense slightly moved to bring the Dao Fruit right in front of him as he slightly smiled… From the rumors, the normal chance of obtaining a Dao Fruit was one out of one hundred dead Gold Core experts. His luck was not bad, he got a Dao Fruit after killing just six.

He recovered his divine sense and placed the Dao Fruit into his storage pouch. The old monster’s face turned green after seeing such a scene and felt that it was unfair. Why was this so unfair?

“Little Ning, did you step on dog sheet!? I, your father, killed nine guys and didn’t get sheet! You killed six guys and immediately got a Dao Fruit…”

The old man looked at the horizon and then at the ruins of the Heaven Separation Sect. He felt that it was more and more unfair.

Even though the Heaven Separation Sect was destroyed, but surely, there were still good items inside the ruins. After killing people for half a day, he only got a few storage pouches. Little Ning not only got the Separation Slayer, but also a Dao Fruit and even captured a half-step Nascent Soul old devil to turn into a puppet… Aizz, incomparable, these items were not comparable…

“I’m going down to find some treasures…” The old monster pointed at the ruins and curled his lip like a child.

“Go ahead, I am not stopping you… If you’re not going, then I will. The commotion here was too big. Be careful of Void Fragmentation old devils coming to check. They will read your soul and steal your memories…” Ning Fan shook his head and was too lazy to care about the old monster. After obtaining vengeance, he suddenly felt empty and carefree… He turned into an icy rainbow and carried Ning Gu along with Si Wuxie as he headed towards the direction of Seven Apricot City.

Meanwhile, the old monster was still standing in the same spot while pondering in his mind…

After doing so much, all the good stuff was taken by Ning Fan. So unfair ah, so unfair…

But really, there was no such thing as fairness in the cultivation world. A bigger fist was justice — this was something the old monster said himself, right?

One hundred miles of ruins and not one being left alive. Anyone would be curious of such a scene. The old monster swallowed his saliva… What if there really was a Void Fragmentation old devil coming to check? Maybe he would really kill me with one palm and search my memories. That would be a huge loss…

“Fine, your father will go back to Seven Apricot to continue my 54th time of dan refinement… This time, your father will absolutely refine a Fourth Revolution Dan medicine…”

The old monster turned into a black light and left with a complex feeling.

And what made him feel complex was that Ning Fan — in the last second — strugglingly chose not to kill Si Wuxie on purpose…

His heart was quivering a little bit.

The old monster had countless enemies and no lack of disciples, but all of his disciples had died… The ones alive were only Ning Fan and a traitorous disciple…

Ning Fan, was a good disciple…

***

A few Gold Core experts finally detected the destruction of the Heaven Separation Sect three days later.

In the land of Yue, this sect destruction was not a small matter! After all, the sect that was destroyed was the number one Evil Sect in Yue!

Eventually, even the experts from the Rain Palace became involved. However, after they noticed the aura of the old monster at this place, they all shut their mouths.

In the end, there were big waves that surged from this Heaven Separation Sect throughout Yue, but the Rain Palace chose to remain silent about this matter.

This was a strange thing… The lack of intervention from the Rain Palace clearly indicated that the person destroying the Heaven Separation was dreaded even by the Rain Palace…

The position of Yue’s number one Evil Sect has changed.

After some competition of the evil crowd, the Sinister Sparrow Sect inherited the majority of Spirit Veins from the Heaven Separation Sect.

All of the old devils remained tight-lipped and didn’t breathe a word about the Heaven Separation Sect?s destruction. They were afraid that a careless statement might offend the tyrannical character that destroyed the Heaven Separation Sect.

They did not know that this character feared by the Rain Palace was only an old monster at his dead end.

He simply was hiding in the Yue Country, nothing more. That day, he simply went to give a present to his disciple, but the Heaven Separation Sect collapsed…

He wanted to let Ning Fan recognize the difference between the weak and the strong. He tried his best to do the things that a master should…

Destroying the Heaven Separation Sect was quickly forgotten by the old monster. He began to refine his 54th dan medicine… He carried expectation along with helplessness.

He faintly knew, that taking this medicine, maybe won?t be able to recover his cultivation…

“That unfilial disciple, I wonder if he will get back on the right path…” During his contemplation, the flames in the cauldron became unstable and it almost ruined his dan refinement.

***

After coming back to Seven Apricot City, Ning Fan went into isolation for several days in order to create a dan medicine to cure Ning Gu’s poison.

After the dan was completed, he left Seven Apricot City along with Ning Gu and traveled to a small village that was isolated from the rest of the world.

He left, leaving Ning Gu behind because this was Ning Gu’s wish.

Ning Gu hoped to stay in this place; away from killing, away from the gleam of the blades and shadows of blood. He only wanted to live an ordinary and peaceful life without competing with anyone.

However, these were only superficial reasons. The biggest reason for living a hermit life in this village was because he was afraid of seeing Ning Fan.

He couldn’t remember his older brother. Each time he saw him, his head would explode from pain. This only inflicted his older brother with guilt and self-blame.

Before completely regaining his memories of Ning Fan, Ning Gu did not intend to accept Ning Fan as his brother. Even if his memories were recovered, he would not want to cultivate in this life.

Everyone had their own paths… Ning Gu and Ning Fan — in the end — were two completely different people.

“If, one day, I remember you, I will come to find you.” Ning Gu stood at the village entrance and stared at Ning Fan.

“There will come such a day… Whatever you want to do and the type of life you wish to live, I can promise it to you. If you wish for ordinary peace, I can give you the verdant hills and limpid rivers. If you wish for riches, I will give you a country for you to be a king of mortals. If you want immortality, I will give you many techniques and pills so that you can become an Immortal… Whatever you wish for, I can grant it…” Ning Fan smiled gently, but he was not happy at all and was only ridden with remorse.

Brothers do not necessarily have to be together, or have equivalent statuses, or even be like-minded with the same aspirations. Perhaps the trajectories of life had separated the two of them.

However, as long as they knew the other was still alive and that they were staring at the same horizon, their bond would not disappear.

Not everyone was fond of becoming an Immortal and even his chickens and dogs rising to the heavens. [1]

With this bond, no matter how many people Ning Fan killed in the future and no matter how many people hated and envied him, he would never forget that he was a human, not a devil.

“I swore to destroy the Heaven Separation Sect, and I have done it… But I am still too weak… On the path of dao cultivation, I am insignificant, someone not worth mentioning. However, I have stepped on this road and there is no turning back. The only choice is to tread on forward…”

Above the high mountains where the wind blew, Ning Fan stood amidst the misty clouds and quietly watched Ning Gu in the village.

The chains in his heart were broken. He lifted his head and noticed that the horizon was even bigger. He bowed down and noticed that the earth was much more immense.

“The heaven is my wife, and the earth is my concubine… Perhaps Ancient Chaos — that year — also had these feelings… Ancient Chaos, without you, there wouldn't be the me of today… If there is a chance in the future, I will help your evil name, Ancient Chaos, resound across the universe and climb to the extreme peak of this cultivation path!”

This was the heart of dao cultivation!

‘Next time, there will be no more power of the Incense Flame.’

‘Next time, I can only rely on myself!'

[1] To ride on someone else's success