Grasping the Evil-Chapter 763: Upheaval in the Flowing Sand

The overwhelming aura of the Ancient Demon Puppet was comparable to Shekong, shocking everyone present.

Under this aura, the starry sky trembled, and no one dared to make any unnecessary sound!

The strongest among them was only at the Mid Stage Enlightenment, yet none could perceive that the cloaked Ancient Demon Puppet was not a living person.

If they knew that the Shekong old monster appearing suddenly in front of them was merely a puppet, they would be even more shocked.

Ning Fan advanced step by step, fingers coiled with puppet threads, while the Ancient Demon Puppet followed closely behind, exhibiting a servile posture.

This scene fell into the eyes of the two Heaven Ghost Elders and six True Immortals, each showing a look of astonishment.

Though they did not know the Ancient Demon was a puppet, they could vaguely discern the servant-master relationship between Ning Fan and the Ancient Demon Puppet.

Ning Fan was the master, the Ancient Demon was the servant!

Still, they couldn’t comprehend how an old monster with Abandon-Void Cultivation Level would be so obedient to Ning Fan at the Ghostly Profound Level!

Indeed, at this moment, Ning Fan stood exposed to everyone, revealing his Ghostly Profound Early Stage cultivation without concealment.

The five True Immortals did not recognize Ning Fan and speculated about his identity and background.

They could hardly imagine what tremendous background Ning Fan would need to have the qualification to possess a Shekong realm servant!

"One breath!"

Ning Fan’s cold words, like the voice of a ghostly spirit from the underworld, rang out again, reaching the ears of the two Heaven Ghost Elders and other True Immortals.

As soon as the words fell, the Ancient Demon Puppet took a step forward, with overwhelming Demonic Qi surrounding him. His step caused countless law fractures in the starry sky!

With one step, the Ancient Demon Puppet shattered the momentum, sending crushing force towards the two Heaven Ghost Elders and others!

Under this crushing force, the five True Immortals collectively spat blood and retreated, without the strength to resist, each showing a look of fear.

Only then did they remember, Ning Fan had given them just three breaths to choose: to serve or to die!

In such a chaotic moment, the five had no time to ponder Ning Fan’s identity background!

"I’m at least a True Immortal, how could I become a mere Ghost Profound’s servant..." snorted the Zheng Family Patriarch angrily, suddenly taking an Immortal Talisman from his sleeve and slapping it on his chest, transforming into a beam of extreme light, fleeing a hundred billion miles in an instant!

He was proud by nature, realizing he couldn’t rival the Shekong old monster, yet unwilling to become anyone’s servant.

Ning Fan’s expression remained cold as ever, hooking the puppet threads with his fingers. The Ancient Demon Puppet beside him suddenly raised his fist, punching towards the direction of the Zheng Family Patriarch’s escape!

Blood-red ancient demon symbols instantly filled the starry sky!

A fist beam filled with red lightning flashed past, directly spanning a hundred billion miles, landing a punch on the Zheng Family Patriarch!

Boom!

In the dark starry sky a hundred billion miles away, suddenly a blood-red lightning shook the world, rumbling incessantly!

After killing the Zheng Family Patriarch, the fist beam transformed into endless lightning, even a hundred billion miles away, the dazzling blood-red was visible!

With an expressionless face, the Ancient Demon Puppet took a step, instantly disappearing without a trace, the next moment returning to the original location, handing the Zheng Family Patriarch’s Spirit and storage pouch to Ning Fan.

"Two breaths!"

In front of the remaining four True Immortal enemies, Ning Fan received the Zheng Family Patriarch’s storage pouch and at the scene performed Soul Search to destroy this soul remnant.

This scene shocked the remaining four True Immortal enemies!

The Zheng Family Patriarch refused to become Ning Fan’s servant, hence could not escape death...

If they refused to become Ning Fan’s servants, their fate would likely be dire...

Before Ning Fan could utter the third breath, the four True Immortals exchanged a glance, swallowed their regrets and unwillingness, gritted their teeth, and cupped their fists to Ning Fan saying,

"We are willing to be Your Excellency’s servants!"

If not servants, for them awaited death, they had no choice.

Ning Fan wasted no words with them, dispersed his spirit sense, sowing Restrictive Spell in their divine sense.

The four dared not resist, allowing Restrictive Spell to be planted, from this moment on, their lives and deaths were under Ning Fan’s control...

They regretted deeply, regretting why they coveted those 5500 spiritual herbs, taking action against the Six Desires Sect.

If they knew the Six Desires Sect had such a powerful backer, how dare they provoke, how could they end up as servants.

The Zhao Family Patriarch, Wang Clan Patriarch, two Heaven Ghost Elders, all showed expressions of deep regret.

Yuanzong still looked incredulous, unable to believe even now that Ning Fan would have Shekong servants following him.

Suddenly, Yuanzong seemed to have discovered something extremely shocking, his gaze changed dramatically as he looked at the Ancient Demon Puppet.

The two elders from the Heaven Ghost Clan and others also noticed the peculiarity of the Ancient Demon Puppet, their eyes once again filled with shock.

"Master, this senior is..." Yuanzong steadied his resolve as if to confirm something, pointing to the Ancient Demon Puppet beside Ning Fan, and inquired.

"Puppet!"

Ning Fan did not hide the puppet nature of the Ancient Demon.

Previously, Ning Fan’s sudden appearance left everyone without the time to see through the puppet identity of the Ancient Demon.

At this moment, Yuanzong and others vaguely saw that the Ancient Demon Puppet was not a living person.

Since that was the case, there was no need to deliberately conceal the identity of the Ancient Demon Puppet.

"What! It’s really a puppet! A puppet comparable to the Shedding Void level!" In an instant, Yuanzong, the old ancestor of the Zhao Family, the old ancestor of the Wang Clan, and the two elders from the Heaven Ghost Clan, all had their expressions change drastically.

However, Ning Fan continued the soul search with an unchanged expression. After thoroughly searching through the memories of the Zheng Family Patriarch, Ning Fan used a secret technique to refine the Patriarch’s Spirit and stored it in the Soul Bag.

"Blast God Technique! Could the master really be..." The old ancestor of the Zhao Family, the old ancestor of the Wang Clan, and the two elders from the Heaven Ghost Clan had their gazes change, recognizing Ning Fan’s use of the Blast God Technique on the refined Spirit!

Decades ago, Ning Fan made a name for himself in Eastern Heaven with the Blast God Technique.

The old ancestor of the Zhao Family and others, being far from Ning Fan’s star domain, had not paid much attention to Ning Fan and did not know his appearance, but they had vaguely heard of his reputation.

At this moment, upon seeing the Blast God Technique, they naturally guessed Ning Fan’s identity.

For a time, the four people had extremely peculiar expressions, occasionally sighing profoundly.

Who could have predicted that the Void Fragmentation Realm junior who had just joined the Slaughter Hall decades ago would become their master.

Who could have imagined that Ning Fan could advance from the Fracture Summit to the Ghostly Profound Early Stage in just a few decades and possess a Shedding Void Puppet...

Even Yuanzong had not anticipated that Ning Fan would now be at the Ghostly Profound Early Stage cultivation.

Seven years ago, Ning Fan seemed to be only at the Human Profound Peak.

Yuanzong was even more unprepared for Ning Fan having a Shedding Void Puppet at his disposal, effortlessly averting the great calamity of the Six Desires Sect.

For the first time in his life, Yuanzong felt he could not see through a Fate Immortal cultivator and found Ning Fan too deep and unfathomable.

...

With the death of the Zheng Family Patriarch, the Zheng Family became an ownerless object.

Under Ning Fan’s orders, Yuanzong and five True Immortals forcefully intervened, eradicating the Zheng Family, completely removing it from Eastern Heaven.

All cultivators of the Zheng Family, Zhao Family, and Wang Family were implanted with a Restrictive Spell and incorporated into the Six Desires Sect! The two elders from the Heaven Ghost Clan also joined the Six Desires Sect as guest elders!

The entire Six Desires Star Domain’s 74,000 cultivation stars were all brought under the influence of the Six Desires Sect!

The Six Desires Star Domain was unified!

Under Ning Fan’s strict orders, none of Yuanzong and others revealed Ning Fan’s status as the Lord of the Six Desires.

Within the entire Six Desires Star Domain, all cultivators who saw the Ancient Demon Puppet act had their memories erased by Ning Fan.

Ning Fan did not want people to know he possessed an Ancient Demon Puppet comparable to the Shedding Void level, nor did he want people to know he had become the Lord of the Six Desires.

If these two matters were revealed, Ning Fan would once again, like decades ago, attract the attention of countless old monsters in Eastern Heaven.

At this moment, Ning Fan did not want to attract anyone’s attention, because what he planned to do next needed to be completed discreetly.

He had long decided to massively steal Incense Flame within the scope of Eastern Heaven; being too conspicuous was not a good thing.

The accumulations of the Zhao Family, Wang Family, and Zheng Family combined amounted to about four trillion Dao Crystals, all used by Ning Fan to purchase one-million-year-old spiritual herbs.

Rumors spread externally that the Six Desires Sect found a powerful backer, forcibly subduing the three major True Immortal factions and unifying the entire Six Desires Star Domain.

Yet no one knew who the backer that the Six Desires Sect found was.

A year passed in the blink of an eye.

In the Xuan Yin Treasure, Ning Fan sat cross-legged in cultivation, motionless for a year, diligently practicing the Art of Gathering Three Flowers at the Top.

Throughout the year, Ning Fan refined 8,400 one-million-year-old spiritual herbs.

Beside him, a plumb-colored lotus flower coiled around, the flower blooming with twelve petals, each one plumb-colored.

The Art of Gathering Three Flowers at the Top had been completely cultivated to the consummate stage of the first flower.

With a thought from Ning Fan, a million plumb-colored lotus shadows spread in all directions. Such a powerful defense that even a True Immortal at the Initial Stage of Crossing Truth would find hard to breach.

Looking at the sky filled with lotus shadows, Ning Fan smiled with satisfaction, collected the lotus shadows, and slowly stood up.

"The first flower has been cultivated to a perfect realm; the second flower should theoretically be ready for cultivation. Unfortunately, one of the prerequisites for cultivating the second flower is possessing Ancestral Divine Blood..."

"Never mind, Ancestral Divine Blood cannot be forced; the cultivation of the second flower can be temporarily set aside. The trip to the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain must be carefully planned..."

There are about ten years left until the opening of the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain. He and Ouyang Nuan have agreed that in ten years, they will head to the Medicine Sect together to enter the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain.

He will not forget this matter.

He has ample time to reach the Hundred Grasses Star Domain where the Medicine Sect is located.

Along the way, he will traverse thousands of star domains, giving him plenty of opportunities to steal Incense Flame power.

Moreover, on this journey, he will happen to pass through the Flowing Sand Star Domain.

Flowing Sand Star Domain, the Flowing Sand Secret Realm, the Ancient God’s Temporal Cave... This is a secret place that Lux Xiner mentioned to Ning Fan, harboring great opportunities.

Ning Fan’s gaze sharpened slightly; if he passed through the Flowing Sand Star Domain, he would definitely enter that Ancient God’s Temporal Cave to seek opportunities.

With a pat of his storage pouch, he took out the Incense Flame Demon Puppet, mulling over it in deep thought.

The Incense Flame Demon Puppet can seize Incense Flame power, but due to some damage, its power is greatly reduced.

If it steals the Incense Flame power of the living, it can at most seize the power from Enlightenment cultivators.

If it steals from the dead, it can even barely seize the Incense Flame power from Shedding Void cultivators.

The ancestor of the Yao Family had the Shedding Void cultivation level but since he had long perished, Ning Fan easily seized the Incense Flame power collected in his temple’s golden body.

If the ancestor of the Yao Family were still alive, Ning Fan would not have been able to steal his Incense Flame power.

Putting away the Incense Flame Demon Puppet, Ning Fan swept his spirit sense over the Cauldron Ring and then the sword pouch.

In the sword pouch, five young girls sat cross-legged with their eyes closed, comprehending the Sword Dao. In the seven years since they had last seen each other, their momentum had grown significantly.

In the Cauldron Ring, Mu Weiliang had not emerged, and Zili was still breaking through her realm within the demon cocoon.

Retracting his spirit sense, Ning Fan shook his head with a smile, realizing these little girls were all busy.

With a flicker of his form, he left the Xuan Yin Treasure, returning to the Six Desires Sect. Outside the forbidden area of the Six Desires Sect Master’s domain, only Yuanzong was guarding.

The Zhao Family Patriarch, Wang Clan Ancestor, and the two Heaven Ghost Elders had all been sent by Ning Fan a year ago to gather Medicine Soul Stones across various star domains.

The Medicine Soul Stone is a special mineral that when refined by an Alchemist, can replenish the medicine soul power that has been consumed.

In the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain, there are numerous ancient Immortal Elixirs, and the medicinal energy is strong. Masters entering it need to continuously use medicine soul power to counteract the medicinal energy.

Once the medicine soul power is excessively consumed, it becomes almost impossible to counter the Sacred Domain’s medicinal energy, which is very dangerous.

Therefore, cultivators entering the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain generally carry a large number of Medicine Soul Stones to replenish their medicine soul power anytime and anywhere.

Additionally, there are many sealed secret places in the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain where seals can only be broken by spending enough Medicine Soul Stones. To enter the sealed secret places to seek opportunities, a large number of Medicine Soul Stones are needed.

With still ten years until the opening of the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain, many forces in Eastern Heaven are purchasing Medicine Soul Stones on a large scale. Without certain connections, it’s almost impossible to buy them.

Most Medicine Soul Stones on trading stars have been sold out. Within Eastern Heaven, Medicine Soul Stones are currently in a state of being priced but unattainable, with supply not meeting demand.

Ning Fan has no time to buy Medicine Soul Stones himself, and perhaps Ouyang Nuan will prepare some for him, but he still decided to prepare some himself, the more the better.

After all, the task of purchasing Medicine Soul Stones has been entirely entrusted to his subordinates, and there’s nothing wrong with having more.

"Yuanzong greets the master!"

Upon seeing Ning Fan step out of the forbidden area, Yuanzong immediately approached, clasping his fists in a bow, full of reverence.

From cordial friendliness to respectful humility and then to awe and admiration, Yuanzong’s attitude towards Ning Fan changed time and again.

If before, it was due to the ancestor’s legacy that he served Ning Fan as master, now Yuanzong would willingly serve Ning Fan as master even without the ancestor’s legacy.

A year ago, Ning Fan manipulated a Shekong Puppet, saving the Six Desires Sect from its plight with a powerful stance, unifying the Six Desires Star Domain, which convinced Yuanzong wholeheartedly.

"No need for formalities. How goes the gathering of Medicine Soul Stones?"

"In response to the master, Zhao Jian, Wang Ling, Chi Tian Gui, and Yan Tiangui are actively collecting Medicine Soul Stones across various star domains. So far, they have gathered several thousand..." The four names Yuanzong mentioned were those of the four cultivators, including the Zhao Family Patriarch, who had surrendered to the True Immortal.

"Only a few thousand? That’s a bit too few. Generally, one would carry more than a hundred thousand Medicine Soul Stones upon entering the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain... Within ten years, they must prepare at least a hundred thousand Medicine Soul Stones. Naturally, collecting more is even better. Ten years later, meet me at the place where the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain opens and hand over the Medicine Soul Stones to me."

Ning Fan gave Yuanzong and the others a strict order to ensure they collected over a hundred thousand Medicine Soul Stones within ten years.

Then, Ning Fan left the Six Desires Star Domain on his own...

Just months after Ning Fan departed, Zhao Family Patriarch Zhao Jian suddenly relayed a message.

"Good news, good news! I have unexpectedly found an ancient cultivator’s secret place within the Stone River Star Domain, in which lies a whole vein of Medicine Soul Stone ore! I’ve estimated that if we extract all Medicine Soul Stones from the vein, we could harvest at least several million, with a total value exceeding three trillion Dao Crystals! Yuanzong, quickly share this good news with the master!"

"... The master left Six Desires Star a few months ago." Yuanzong conveyed Ning Fan’s orders to Zhao Jian.

"Uh, the master is no longer on Six Desires Star?! Never mind, inform the others to come to the Stone River Star Domain. We’ll work together to extract all the Medicine Soul Stones from this vein. In ten years, it will be a great surprise for the master, and we can secure significant merits!"

...

Ning Fan does not know that after he left Six Desires Star, he inadvertently gained an ancient cultivator’s legacy of a Medicine Soul Stone mineral vein.

At this moment, all he could think about was stealing Incense Flame power.

Over the span of several months, Ning Fan traveled with Blood Lotus Spiritual Outfit underfoot, flying across hundreds of lower and middle-level star domains.

During this time, he made several moves, using the Ghost Eye Clan to conceal his identity, and used the Incense Flame Demon Puppet to steal incense from twelve Enlightenment factions and eighty-seven Fate Immortal factions’ temples.

This was the first large-scale theft of incense, and what he stole were mostly incense from the living.

The total incense from these factions was not even one ten-thousandth of that of the Ancestor of the Yao Clan!

This little bit of incense was far from enough for Ning Fan to break through to the next realm.

For master cultivators in the second step, Incense Flame power is a significant means of increasing cultivation.

Thus, cultivators of the second step above the four heavens often build their own golden-body temples where people can worship, in order to collect incense.

These second-step cultivators extract their incense every few decades or centuries, so stealing incense from the living typically yields very little, and the incense cannot accumulate.

Unlike the Ancestor of the Yao Clan, who had been dead for millions of years and whose incense had been accumulating for millions of years, greatly benefiting Ning Fan.

"Indeed, it seems I must profit from the deceased..." Ning Fan sighed softly and decided to switch to stealing incense from the dead.

The cultivation world is ruthless and selfish, where death equates to the extinguishing of a lamp. Even the most revered individuals may fade from memory after death.

Just like the past Sect Masters of the Six Desires Sect, most of whom were of True Immortal Realm, yet none had earth-shattering achievements and after their deaths, the incense ceased.

Only individuals such as the Ancestor of the Yao Clan, who created the Blast God Technique and injured an Immortal Emperor with Shedding Void Stage cultivation, were still revered and worshiped by Eastern Celestial Cultivators millions of years posthumously, with endless incense.

Ning Fan summarized his experience of stealing incense.

If stealing, then steal incense from the deceased, particularly those whose fame spanned the world while they were alive.

Due to the damaged Incense Flame Demon Puppet, Ning Fan could at most steal incense from the deceased at the Shedding Void Realm.

Those Shedding Void Realm elders who were renowned in the past were basically from various upper star domains.

From the star domain Ning Fan was currently in to the Hundred Grasses Star Domain, he needed to pass through 11 upper star domains.

Among these 11 upper star domains, only four had produced Shedding Void Realm powers as renowned as the Ancestor of the Yao Clan.

Since the fall of these four Shedding Void Realm powers, their incense has not ceased to accumulate, ranging from two million years to as much as eight to nine million years!

If he were to steal, it would be from the incense of these four deceased!

"Among these four, the nearest one was from the Flowing Sand Star Domain, known as the 476th generation Clan Leader of the Flowing Sand Clan, called the Flowing Sand Daoist. Before his downfall, he was at the Peak of Shedding Void Stage. His fame in Eastern Heaven remains undiminished simply because Flowing Sand Daoist was one of the few in the history of the Eastern Heaven Immortal Realm to comprehend the Secret Technique of Time! His most glorious feat was reversing ten thousand years in a single stroke, reducing an Eternal Immortal Venerable’s Taoist cultivation by ten thousand years!"

"Flowing Sand Star Domain then, seems there will be a lot to do upon entering that domain."

Ning Fan slapped his storage pouch, took out the Inlaid Star Compass of the Flowing Sand Star Domain, and sped towards the Flowing Sand Star Domain.

Half a year later, Ning Fan flew across more than a thousand star domains and reached the Flowing Sand Star Domain.

Upon just entering Flowing Sand Star Domain, the pervasive Demonic Qi immediately made Ning Fan’s gaze tighten!

Throughout the starry sky, dismembered limbs and beast corpses floated everywhere!

Some lower-level cultivation stars had already been shattered by someone...

With his quick mind, Ning Fan vaguely guessed that there might be considerable turmoil in the Flowing Sand Star Domain...

In the far distance, hundreds of Ice Giant Beasts were desperately chasing a group of cultivators.

That group consisted of seven people, all with Fate Immortal Realm cultivation, the strongest being an old monster at the Advanced Stage of Human Profound, riding a large blood-colored demon bird!

The seven fled in an extremely dire state!

Approximately over five hundred Ice Giant Beasts were in pursuit behind those seven.

Every Ice Giant Beast exuded an aura comparable to an Immortal!

Among them, twenty-two beasts had an aura comparable to Human Profound!

The leading beast’s body was almost as immense as a lower-level cultivation star and its aura had reached the Ghost Profound Realm!

The seven escaping desperately, upon seeing Ning Fan there, immediately rushed towards him, as if seeking assistance.

Ning Fan frowned, disliking getting involved in others’ disputes.

Suddenly, Ning Fan’s gaze fell upon the cultivator riding the blood-colored demon bird.

Then, with a collected composure, he moved towards that group, apparently intending to lend them a hand.

"On Shaoze Star years ago, I owed this person a favor; today, I shall repay it!"

(1/2) (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)