Grasping the Evil-Chapter 836: Luo Family Tomb Keeper, Step Forward!
Nalan Zi’s consciousness gradually blurred, ultimately fainting in Ning Fan’s embrace.
Ning Fan’s gaze was ever-changing, his attitude towards this woman extremely complicated.
Nalan Zi was originally his enemy, captured by him in a battle amidst the ocean of stars, eventually becoming his Cauldron Furnace.
Regarding a Cauldron Furnace, Ning Fan would never show a shred of mercy, but this woman’s concern for her sister often sparked a soft spot in his heart.
It’s crucial to know that at the beginning of Ning Fan’s cultivation journey, the greatest pain in his heart was watching helplessly as his younger brother figure Ning Gu was harmed.
And Nalan Zi’s sister was similarly harmed by others, with a pain in her heart identical to Ning Fan’s.
She always kept her sister in her thoughts, almost stubbornly, never changing even when becoming a Cauldron Furnace.
This point made Ning Fan take notice of her even more.
On Nalan Zi’s body, there was a faint flow of purple light, just as Ning Fan suspected, this light was undoubtedly the life light of the Art of Tri-life...
This light was the divine skill obtained by sacrificing a portion of life.
According to Ning Fan’s knowledge, the Purple Warbler Tri-life Technique, which once made its name in the history of the demon race, had long been lost; unexpectedly, today he witnessed it with his own eyes...
A flash of blue light in Ning Fan’s eyes instantly revealed the unforgettable remorse and longing within the purple life light of Nalan Zi.
Nalan Zi’s ability to comprehend such a lost secret technique might relate to her unwavering spiritual sense...
With a slight sigh, Ning Fan eventually placed this woman on the bed, seated at the edge, extending two fingers against her pliant wrist.
A trace of mana transformed into demonic power, entering her body.
Half a day later, under the shroud of night, the weak woman softly moaned, awakening.
Though her eyes were blind, unable to see, she had almost ingrained Ning Fan’s presence in her very bones.
Detecting Ning Fan seated at the bedside, Nalan Zi mocked herself with a smile, sitting halfway up, and then distantly said,
"Why is the master here, do you need Nalan Zi’s service?"
As she finished speaking, Nalan Zi almost numbly extended her hand, beginning to rustle open her clothes, revealing half of her proud fairness.
In her view, Ning Fan’s sudden visit after many years was likely for harvesting from her.
Apart from this, she couldn’t imagine the second reason Ning Fan would find her; naturally, if she could remember the great anomaly she caused earlier, she would understand that Ning Fan was here because of that anomaly.
Unfortunately, after exerting the Tri-life Technique, the backlash was so severe that upon awakening, she could barely recall what happened before.
She thought her sudden fainting was due to some bewitching technique performed by Ning Fan...
"You don’t remember the previous events?" Ning Fan asked with slight surprise.
With his cultivation, he could easily see through Nalan Zi’s thoughts, but Nalan Zi seemed to have forgotten everything.
"Should I remember something?" Nalan Zi asked, slightly surprised.
"You forgot, you had executed the Tri-life Technique..."
"Tri-life Technique? The ultimate secret technique of my clan? That lost secret technique? That’s impossible; with my lowly cultivation, how could I execute such a technique... Master must be jesting with me..." Nalan Zi shook her head in disbelief.
She had completely forgotten about the accidental execution of the Tri-life Technique.
What she had said, what she had pleaded to Ning Fan, she had also completely forgotten.
"All forgotten..." Ning Fan frowned.
The words Nalan Zi had intermittently uttered before were utterly shocking.
Such as the Four Heavens isolated, the great battle of the Northern Heaven... or the fall of the Spirit King, slain by the Western Demon Ancestor...
Ning Fan knew that Nalan Zi most likely accidentally performed the Tri-life Technique, glimpsing events that might happen in the future.
He originally wanted to ask Nalan Zi more details about what she had seen, but it seemed there was nothing he could find out now.
"Could the Four Heavens Immortal Realm fall into chaos... Could the Demon World also plunge into turmoil, with the Spirit King Palace being overrun by the Western Demon Ancestor... Speaking of which, who is this Western Demon Ancestor..."
Ning Fan pondered, scrutinizing Nalan Zi, uncertain about how credible her previous words were.
He had only heard of the Eastern Demon Ancestor; the Eastern Demon Ancestor is the Ancestral Emperor from the Eastern Heaven, the former owner of the Heaven Suppressing Bell, the creator of the Heaven Sealing Technique.
Ning Fan had never heard of a Western Demon Ancestor.
It’s not that Ning Fan was ignorant, but the Western Demon Ancestor had never appeared in the entire history of the demon race...
"If the master requires service, you can say so, Nalan Zi will do her utmost to please the master... Why say such nonsensical words..."
Nalan Zi, with her thin robe half-covering, hooked her arm around Ning Fan’s neck, her face always maintaining a faint expression, gently offering her soft lips, as if she was merely a machine for Ning Fan to toy with freely.
Ning Fan frowned deeper, gently pushing Nalan Zi away, indifferently stating, "Since you’ve forgotten, then let it be. Take this pill, after consuming it, you should be able to heal all your internal injuries. The Tri-life Technique is extremely dangerous; perform it thrice, and death is certain... Be more cautious in the future, don’t recklessly perform this kind of secret technique."
Once he finished speaking, Ning Fan handed Nalan Zi a pill bottle, and directly walked out.
For some reason, the more willing Nalan Zi was to become a Cauldron Furnace for her sister, the less Ning Fan could harden his heart to trample her dignity.
Even after Ning Fan had left for quite a while, Nalan Zi remained there in a daze, caressing the pill bottle still warm with body heat, her expression also turned complicated.
Now, Ning Fan’s cultivation had long reached a level she couldn’t fathom.
What baffled her the most was that Ning Fan would give her pills, showing concern for her injuries.
"What exactly have I forgotten... What actually happened before... Why does my body have injuries... Why is he so concerned about me..."
"Did I really perform the forbidden divine skill of the Purple Warbler Clan—the Tri-life Technique? That would be too absurd... With my aptitude, how could I perform such an astonishing divine skill..."
Nalan Zi quietly sighed, gently closing her garment, hesitated for a moment, and finally took out the pills Ning Fan gave, swallowing them in one go.
They were indeed very high-grade Healing Pills, something she had never consumed in this lifetime...
...
This minor incident with Nalan Zi did not disrupt Ning Fan’s cultivation.
Several days later, Ning Fan left the Xuan Yin Treasure, returning to the Ninth Layer of the Divine Tomb, beginning to cultivate the Yin-Yang Five Swords beside the Chaotic Ancient Tomb Palace.
For the rest of half a year, Ning Fan was almost entirely immersed in comprehending this divine skill.
Relying on his great fortune, Ning Fan first condensed the Heavenly Fate-cutting Sword among the five swords, but the other four swords showed no signs of being cultivated.
The fundamental reason for the inability to cultivate them was still because Ning Fan’s cultivation was too low.
Just as he was about to temporarily abandon the cultivation of this technique, suddenly, five voices emerged from the sword pouch.
These five voices brought Ning Fan great inspiration!
"What if I use the five Immortal Swords in the sword pouch as carriers, and the five Sword Spirits as assistance to perform the Yin-Yang Five Swords!"
No one knew what Ning Fan had comprehended during this half-year.
As time passed, vast stretches of star mist gradually appeared in the Dongming Star Domain.
The appearance of star mist signaled the seasonal change in the Dongming Star Domain, also heralding the commencement of this year’s Divine Void Pavilion Tomb Competition.
This Tomb Competition held profound significance, with the Shenhao Twin Emperors attempting to wash away the shadow of Senluo imprinted in the minds of the assembled cultivators with this grand event.
In the starry skies not far from the major stars of Dongming Star, Divine Space, and Void Star, a square-shaped Bronze Sparrow Platform floated.
A single copper platform was almost as massive as half a Lower-Level Cultivation Star.
On all four sides of the copper platform were jade thrones, filled with countless Masters even before the appearance of the mystical fog.
As the mystical fog gradually spread across the Eastern Ocean, more and more Masters traveled from afar to gather here.
An endless number of old monsters were seated in their respective positions, among them were Masters from the Dongming Star Domain, from various star domains of the East Heaven, and even some from the Four Oceans Sect.
Innunerable Divine Void Cultivators guarded all four sides of the copper platform; any Master attempting to cause trouble would be eliminated by the Divine Void Pavilion!
The reason these old monsters gathered at this copper platform was for one reason only.
This copper platform is the site for this Tomb Competition!
In this Tomb Competition, 4175 Tomb Keepers will decide their rankings on this copper platform!
The number of old monsters arriving here is almost ten times that of those attending the disciple recruitment ceremony at the Slaughter Hall.
This grand occasion is happening even with the Bell Sacrifice canceled. If it were held concurrently, the number of old monsters from East Heaven gathering here would have been even greater.
After all, the disciple recruitment ceremony at the Slaughter Hall is just a game among the younger generation, while the Tomb Keepers of the Tomb Competition are all renowned old monsters from the Dongming Star Domain, with being a Fate Immortal merely the threshold!
As the mystical fog thickened, the entire starry sky seemed to be veiled in a thin layer of white mist.
The season of fog enveloping the Eastern Ocean had arrived.
On the second day of the fog, several thousand Tomb Keepers from the Divine Void Pavilion successively arrived at the Copper Platform Venue!
Each of these Tomb Keepers had a solemn expression as they stood at the center of the venue, and no one uttered a word.
In the sky above, constantly, old monsters from various places continued to arrive—from the Enlightenment Stage, from Shedding Void, from Shattered Thought, and even some Immortal Venerables and Immortal Kings from the Eternity Realm.
Some small forces, unfamiliar with such grandeur, were left gaping with astonishment, sparking waves of discussion.
But when nine streaks of light pierced through the sky, landing in the nine main seats of the venue, everyone held their breath.
The nine old monsters who arrived late, all above the Shattered Thought Realm, were the top nine elders ranked within the Divine Void Pavilion!
Upon their arrival, all the Divine Void Cultivators present stood up, clasped their fists, and respectfully greeted the nine.
"We, the Divine Void Cultivators, greet the nine attending elders!"
"At ease!"
The Great Elder of the Divine Void Pavilion stood up, waved his hand, and immediately, the roaring sound of war drums resounded from all four sides of the venue!
"The first round of the Tomb Competition begins!"
With the sound of the Great Elder of Divine Void spreading across, all the Tomb Keepers focused their gaze.
This Tomb Competition is different from previous ones, divided into three rounds.
In the first round, 4175 Tomb Keepers would be matched to opponents based on their affiliated power tiers and Tomb Merit Value rankings.
Any Tomb Keeper, as long as they win ten consecutive matches at the venue, can advance to the second round!
The sound of war drums suddenly quickened, and the Tomb Keepers at the center of the copper platform withdrew from the venue, leaving only one old monster at the Initiate Realm of Shedding Void Stage standing in the center.
This person was named Zhao Mengde, the 49th-ranking elder within the Divine Void Pavilion, belonging to the Shenkong Camp.
In the palm of this Zhao Mengde was a jade scroll, within which the sequence of matches for all Tomb Keepers was recorded.
"Tomb Keeper of the Zhou Family, step forward! Tomb Keeper of the Wu Clan, step forward!"
Zhao Mengde shouted in a deep voice and immediately withdrew from the venue.
In the next instant, a Tomb Keeper from the Zhou Family and the Wu Family each stepped onto the central copper platform.
The Dongming Zhou Family is an eighth-grade power overseen by the Shedding Void Stage, and the Tomb Keeper sent by the Zhou Family was a middle-aged Ghost Profound Early Stage Cultivator.
Whereas the Wu Clan was just a seventh-grade power, its Tomb Keeper merely an old man at the Human Profound Middle Stage.
This match was a foregone conclusion, naturally with the Zhou Family’s Ghost Profound Early Stage achieving victory.
The Wu Clan’s Tomb Keeper had another one with Human Profound Advanced Stage cultivation, who couldn’t last several rounds against the divine skills of the Zhou Family’s Tomb Keeper, and was also inevitably defeated.
With the momentum of continuous victories, the Zhou Family’s Tomb Keeper fought all the way, defeated eight more Human Profound Masters, and smoothly advanced to the second round.
Subsequently, another Ghost Profound Early Stage Tomb Keeper from the Zhou Family, after winning four consecutive matches, was defeated by a Ghost Profound Middle Stage opponent, missing the second round.
Amidst such alternating victories and defeats, eight days passed in a flurry.
During these eight days, most matches occurred between the seventh and eighth-grade Tomb Keepers.
But on the ninth day, the first appearance of a ninth-grade power finally arrived.
This ninth-grade power dispatched six Tomb Keepers this time, of which five advanced to the second round through continuous victories.
Only the last Tomb Keeper to appear was unlucky and was defeated by an eighth-grade power’s Tomb Keeper.
The one who defeated him was a Tomb Keeper from an eighth-grade power—the Dongming Chen Family!
This person was the Young Master of the Chen Family, named Chen Xiao, who despite having a bone age of merely 140,000 years, had already cultivated to the Initial Stage of Crossing Truth. When looking at this stage, few were his equals.
Among this year’s eighth-grade Tomb Keepers, Chen Xiao almost sat securely in the first place!
"Tsk! This Chen Xiao has grown even more formidable than in the previous Tomb Competition! In this way, not only is advancing to the second round assuredly worry-free, but contending for the top ten of this competition is also highly promising! With this child’s aptitude, likely within two million years, he might step into the Shedding Void Realm! The Chen Family has a worthy successor!" On the audience seat, many old monsters clicked their tongues in praise.
In the seats of the Chen Family, the Family Head Chen Xuan’s eyes were full of pride.
He is Chen Xiao’s father, and his greatest pride has always been the emergence of Chen Xiao from the Chen Family.
With a bone age of 140,000 at the Initial Stage of Crossing Truth, there are few such talents even throughout East Heaven. If no accidents occur, the future of the Chen Family would likely rest on Chen Xiao’s shoulders.
Of course, Chen Xiao’s rapid cultivation speed was also heavily aided by Dual Cultivation.
Chen Xiao himself was a Master with the Seven Yang Physique, possessing a Golden Yang Physique.
To cultivate a single Chen Xiao, Chen Xuan secretly managed a cultivation star within East Heaven. Nearly one million female cultivators above the Divinity Transformation stage on that star were gathered for Chen Xiao’s cultivation! All those women met their demise bearing hatred...
"Hehe, my Chen Family may not excel in other aspects, but Xiao’er will never be inferior to anyone! Even facing a Tomb Keeper from a ninth-level Sect, he will not lose!" Chen Xuan uttered confidently.
Other Chen Family Cultivators nodded in agreement upon hearing his words.
"This Chen Xuan is not weak...I’m afraid our Luo Family is in some danger..." The Six Ancestors of the Luo Family sighed slightly in their seat.
In fact, even before the competition began, he had already learned the sequence of all Tomb Keepers from their Family Head.
Unless an accident occurred, once Chen Xiao defeated an opponent, it would be time for the Luo Family’s Tomb Keeper to appear.
At present, only seven Tomb Keepers from the Luo Family were present, among them only Wang Meng was at the Initial Stage of Crossing Truth and possessed the strength to contend with Chen Xiao.
But Wang Meng had only recently reached the Initial Stage of Crossing Truth, unlike Chen Xiao, who had lingered in the Crossing Truth Realm for ten thousand years.
Even Wang Meng would likely be defeated by Chen Xiao.
Among the rest of the Tomb Keepers, the slightly stronger ones, Luo Xuan and Luo Xiao, were also no match for Chen Xiao...
"Why hasn’t Ning Fan arrived yet... If he doesn’t come soon, in the next round, Chen Xiao might just single-handedly defeat all seven of the Luo Family’s Tomb Keepers..."
Just as the Six Ancestors of the Luo Family pondered this, Zhao Mengde’s voice resonated once more.
"Tomb Keepers of the Luo Family, step forward!"
(2/2) (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
