Grasping the Evil-Chapter 860: Wu Chen, Once Again

The barbarian beasts in the ancient forest were cleared by the little girl alone.

In the depths of an ancient towering tree, Ning Fan opened up three cave dwellings, one for each person.

Liu Yan nurtured the star compass here, the little girl protected Ning Fan here, while Ning Fan focused entirely on practicing the War God Art.

Ning Fan’s heart and spirit gradually merged with this ancient forest... The forest floor’s decayed leaves were of unknown thickness, accumulating over countless years.

Beneath these decayed leaves, one could occasionally find the bones of fallen warriors and some spirit-exhausted and rusted magical treasures.

The ancient battle spirit was condensed yet undispersed in this forest. Ning Fan closed his eyes, and as if he could hear the cries of countless unyielding souls.

War! War! War!

Back then, the golden spears and armored horses were already irretrievable... yet the battle spirit of this place was immortal and inherited!

Ning Fan’s understanding of the War God Art deepened... battle spirit, that "intent" is an indestructible will...

One day, two days, three days... No one knows how many days passed, Ning Fan’s heart perfectly merged with this place’s battle spirit.

In this moment, he finally opened his eyes and began to perform the Fierce Origin Technique, condensing the Fierce Origin Crystal.

Here, he aimed to create not a low-ranked Fierce Origin Crystal, but a middle-ranked one!

Failure, failure, failure...

Piece after piece of Dao Crystal turned to dust in Ning Fan’s hands, the difficulty of condensing middle-ranked Fierce Origin Crystals was far greater than low-ranked ones.

A month passed, and Ning Fan was still continuously failing.

Two months passed, and Ning Fan still hadn’t formed even half a piece of middle-ranked Fierce Origin Crystal.

Three months passed, and Ning Fan was still failing, but in his heart, he finally seemed to understand something.

The reason why he still couldn’t condense the middle-ranked Fierce Origin Crystal was because the battle spirit here wasn’t strong enough!

At this moment, Ning Fan stepped out of the cave dwelling and performed an Earth Escape Skill, burrowing deeper into the ancient forest.

The earth’s crust in the Barbarian Wilderness Ancient Domain changes once every few centuries.

Four Heavens separated over billions of years, experiencing domain wars 400 times, crust movements nearly a million times... The past battlefields of domain wars had long been buried deep in the earth.

The battle spirit there is stronger than on the surface; there, a middle-ranked Fierce Origin Crystal can surely be condensed!

Ning Fan burrowed all the way to the bottom of the earth’s crust, and here, the intensity of the battle spirit could slightly disturb Ning Fan’s stable spirit sense.

Here, Ning Fan finally condensed the first middle-ranked Fierce Origin Crystal... The battle spirit intensity of a middle-ranked Fierce Origin Crystal was equivalent to Luo Family’s finest ranked War Crystal!

Since War King Luo Hou entered slumber, no one has been able to condense the finest ranked War Crystal!

Feeling the intense battle spirit within the middle-ranked Fierce Origin Crystal, Ning Fan smiled satisfyingly, accompanied by the remains of countless Ancient Cultivators, continuing to condense middle-ranked Fierce Origin Crystals.

For two whole years, Ning Fan condensed middle-ranked Fierce Origin Crystals, nearly 10,000 pieces in all.

The next eight years, Ning Fan returned to the surface cave dwelling, continually refining middle-ranked Fierce Origin Crystals, increasing the number of flames of war.

During the eight years, the little girl ate one-tenth of her shattered thunder, then asked Ning Fan for another tenth.

During the eight years, Liu Yan, besides nurturing the star compass, gained a trace of resonance with the compass, her cultivation greatly improved, breaking through to the Fifth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm.

Eight years passed, the number of Ning Fan’s Life-bound Battle Fire had reached 1,200!

As for his War Yin and Yang cultivation progress, it improved by one twentieth in those eight years!

To break through the Third Change of the War Technique, one needs to possess 999 flames of Life-bound Battle Fire.

Ning Fan’s War God Art was stuck at the brink of breaking through to the Third Change’s bottleneck; he needed a battle to breakthrough the War God Art!

In the surrounding millions of miles, the barbarian beasts were already cleared out of boredom by the little girl.

Having arrived at the ancient forest for ten years... Ten years passed, Ning Fan stepped out of the ancient forest for the first time.

He left the ancient forest alone, leaving Liu Yan and the little girl temporarily within the cave dwellings.

As Ning Fan’s spirit sense moved, the sky immediately filled with dark clouds, rain poured endlessly, and the rain mist gradually scattered afar.

Ning Fan’s spirit sense scattered far, searching for a barbarian beast he could battle.

Suddenly, Ning Fan’s gaze subtly changed, withdrawing the boundless rain mist, without hesitation, instantly transforming into a beam of golden light, flying swiftly towards a certain direction of the Barbarian Domain.

He never expected to encounter an old acquaintance in this Barbarian Wilderness Ancient Domain...

...

On an unoccupied Barbarian Domain, above a certain Black Marsh Great Swamp, a group of cultivators were fighting while retreating.

This group comprised four Masters, each with a cultivation above Enlightenment, wearing blood-red ghost faces.

These four were four Ghost-faced Assassins from the Slaughter Hall, who accepted a task from the hall to collect barbarian corpses and entered the Barbarian Wilderness Ancient Domain together.

Their task was to collect over a hundred barbarian corpses of Enlightenment Savage Beasts.

Among the four, three were at the Initial Stage of Crossing Truth, and one was at the Mid Stage. With their combined strength, defeating some barbarian beasts at the Initial or Mid Stage of Enlightenment was no difficulty, nor was collecting barbarian corpses.

Their movements were secretive; they often targeted lone beasts and had never encountered any danger.

This time, the four found two solitary barbarian beasts, joined forces to slay them, and sealed away the barbarian corpses.

However, what they didn’t expect was that within the two beasts, there was actually a strange Nascent Soul concealed.

In the intelligence recorded by the Four Heavens, there was never any instance of a barbarian beast having a Nascent Soul or demon pill.

Having stumbled upon this barbarian Nascent Soul, the four dared not be negligent and sealed it away, planning to take it back to the Slaughter Hall and present it to their Sect for thorough study, potentially earning great merit.

Unexpectedly, right after they sealed the strange baby, it instantly provoked the murderous intent of all the surrounding barbarian beasts!

Behind them, more than twenty Enlightenment Savages had gathered, chasing the four, and their numbers kept increasing!

"What on earth is that strange baby that could arouse the murderous intent of all the beasts here!"

The highest cultivation among them was a white-haired elder at the Mid Stage of Crossing Truth, whose face was obscured by a ghost mask, yet the resolute gaze revealed his stern character.

"Brother Yu... let’s just get rid of that strange baby... there are too many barbarian beasts, we can’t handle it..." said a female cultivator covered by a ghost mask.

She was clad in blood-colored war armor and was a Physique refinement cultivator, named Yue.

"Younger sister Yue is right, we better ditch the strange baby," said another mid-aged Enlightenment cultivator. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"I also think we should get rid of that strange baby early," added the last cultivator, a burly man who had only broken through Enlightenment a little over a decade ago and was not particularly stable in his realm yet.

"Alright, we’ll discard the strange baby!"

The elder with the surname Yu sighed slightly; although he’d like to bring the strange baby back to claim merit, he knew it wasn’t worth continuing to anger the pursuing beasts over it.

Gritting his teeth, Elder Yu took out a sealed jade box and threw it harshly behind him, hoping this deed might quell the beasts’ wrath.

The jade box hit the ground, and a strange baby, deathly still, dropped onto the earth, only the size of a palm, yet bearing two heads.

As soon as the beasts saw the strange baby fall, they immediately halted, their gaze heavy.

One of the beasts swallowed the strange baby in one gulp, mourning towards the vast sky for a prolonged moment.

Several breaths later, all the beasts revealed fierce glints, once again pursuing the four with even more murderous intent!

"Trouble... we’ve returned the strange baby to these beasts, yet they still refuse to let us go."

Elder Yu’s gaze grew heavy, yet before he could formulate a plan, large groups of barbarians approached from various directions!

Seeing the tide-like swarm of beasts approaching, all four ghost-mask assassins turned nervous.

"Fight to the death!" Elder Yu’s gaze sharpened as he uttered these two words.

The other three likewise steeled their gaze, knowing that the only way out was to break through the siege by fighting to the death, giving them a slim chance of survival.

Surrounded by nearly seventy Enlightenment Savages, the four’s hope seemed bleak...

Each barbarian beast opened its giant maw, with black and red Barbarian Flashes condensing within...

Whoosh!

A golden escape light, sharp and swift, approached directly without any reservation, suddenly appearing amidst the beast tide.

As the golden light dispersed, it revealed a silver-haired youth also wearing a ghost mask, though his mask, unlike the others’ blood-red masks, was silver.

His crimson gaze swept coldly, and the normally fearless beasts showed expressions of fear.

The Barbarian Flashes accumulating in their mouths dared not be released!

An invisible aura gathered around the silver-haired youth, a pressure that others could barely sense, yet the beasts could tangibly feel!

"Who is this person! With just a look, he can subdue the hoards!" the three ghost-mask assassins, including Elder Yu, were all shocked.

However, the Wu surnamed cultivator’s gaze faltered; from this silver-haired youth, he sensed a faint trace of familiarity...

"Brother Wu, long time no see..." the silver-haired youth smiled faintly.

This voice entered the Wu cultivator’s ears, instantly causing his gaze to shake with disbelief.

This Wu cultivator was none other than Wu Chen, who shared a significant friendship with Ning Fan!

At this moment, Ning Fan’s appearance with a silver-haired and ghost mask was vastly different from before, but this voice, Wu Chen would remember for a lifetime.

Though others might not know, he knew this silver-haired youth must be Ning Fan without a doubt!

The beasts were only briefly intimidated by Ning Fan; with a roar from the beast that swallowed the strange baby, all the beasts resumed their ferocity, sweeping away their inner fear, and released many Barbarian Flashes.

A total of seventy-five Enlightenment Savages; the strongest among them had even reached the Late Stage of Enlightenment.

Seventy-five Barbarian Flashes swept down; Wu Chen and the others’ hair all stood on end, never having felt death so close.

Even Ning Fan’s eyes showed a hint of gravity, and without a word, he directly summoned the Contrary Star Demon Armor, uttering the word ’Reverse’.

At that moment, the trajectory of the Great Dao’s operation was subtly modified by the power of the Contrary Star Demon Armor.

Countless Barbarian Flashes rushing at the four reversed direction all at once, rebounding towards the beasts that issued them.

This scene surpassed the understanding of Wu Chen and others. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that Ning Fan was wearing the legendary Contra Star Demon Armor!

"The Contra Star Demon Armor! A rare treasure hard to obtain in the Shedding Void realm!" the Enlightenment female cultivator exclaimed, and the others were equally shocked and confused.

Even Wu Chen, who was most familiar with Ning Fan, now had a look of astonishment on his face.

All the Barbarian Flashes were rebounded, and immediately, cries of agony echoed all around.

Six Barbarian Beasts with slightly lower cultivations were directly killed by the rebounded Barbarian Flashes. Of the remaining sixty-nine beasts, more or less sustained injuries.

From afar, the presence of seven Shedding Void Realm Barbarian Beasts was rapidly approaching.

Ning Fan’s gaze instantly sharpened... Shedding Void Barbarian Beasts almost always stayed in their nests to cultivate, why would seven appear today...

With the Shedding Void Barbarian Beasts joining the battle, Ning Fan did not continue to tangle with the beasts. With a pinch of his fingers, he released a sky full of purple mist and quietly escaped with Wu Chen and others into the purple mist.

When the purple mist dispersed and the Shedding Void Barbarian Beasts arrived, there was no trace of Ning Fan and his group.

From the sky, countless fine raindrops descended...

"Those different race creatures escaped! What shame!"

A mid-Stage Shedding Void Dragon Elephant Barbarian Beast let out an angry sound, wanting to pursue Ning Fan and others but struggled to find them...

Its best ability was its spirit sense tracking divine skill, but with the falling rain, all traces were submerged in the rain...

...

In a desolate valley, Ning Fan and Wu Chen appeared bodily, evading the pursuit of a multitude of beasts.

Due to the addition of seven Shedding Void Barbarian Beasts, Ning Fan did not linger in battle, fearing Wu Chen and others’ insufficient strength would lead to death under the beasts’ siege.

If he were alone, he wouldn’t mind challenging the beasts.

What surprised him slightly was the Shedding Void Barbarian Beasts acting out of character, leaving their nests...

"We are most grateful for your intervention in saving us!" The elder surnamed Yu and three Ghost-faced Assassins all cupped their hands in thanks to Ning Fan.

They knew well, if not for Ning Fan’s intervention, chances of their death under beasts’ besiege were sure to be high...

Wu Chen also cupped his hands to Ning Fan in thanks but did not reveal Ning Fan’s identity... Naturally, he understood Ning Fan wore the ghost mask to hide his identity.

His identity was too sensitive for current Eastern Celestial Cultivators.

"It was no more than a lift of the hand, no need to speak of it..."

Ning Fan’s gaze turned to Wu Chen and asked,

"After so many years apart, I didn’t expect Brother Wu to have succeeded in Enlightenment. However, I’m curious, why is Brother Wu here in the Barbarian Wilderness Ancient Domain, and why did you draw so much killing tribulation?"

Ning Fan had long seen Wu Chen’s ghostly appearance, naturally recognizing him.

Upon hearing Ning Fan knew Wu Chen, the three Ghost-faced Assassins were startled but asked no more.

Wu Chen had already calmed from his initial shock and was naturally happy to reunite with Ning Fan in the Barbarian Wilderness Ancient Domain. Thinking back to Ning Fan’s rescue, he felt a sense of nostalgia...

Thousands of words were in his heart, wanting to share drinks with Ning Fan, yet lamented that it was not the right place.

"Ah, it’s a long story... We are currently resting in a Barbarian City, and it won’t be too late to explain once we reach that city."

"Going to the Barbarian City... is fine as well..."

Ning Fan followed Wu Chen and their group, flying towards a nearby Barbarian City.

A Barbarian City is inhabited by humanoid Barbarian Beasts.

Humanoid Barbarian Beasts have no cultivations, neither their form nor temperament differs from mortals.

The Barbarian City Wu Chen and others were residing in was named Yue Clan City.

While still a few miles from the city gates, Wu Chen’s group landed, removed their ghost masks, subdued all Evil Qi, and entered the city like mortals.

Ning Fan, though not removing his ghost mask, also subdued all traces, appearing no different from a mortal.

This Barbarian City wasn’t large, only inhabited by a few thousand barbarians, with ancient statues erected all around the city.

These statues were named Barbarian Images, possessing divine skills of intimidating Barbarian Beasts, preventing them from attacking the city.

Without the protection of the Barbarian Images, a single barbarian beast could bloodily cleanse a Barbarian City.

"So this, is a Barbarian City where Barbarians live..."

Ning Fan followed behind Wu Chen and others, walking down the blue stone avenue, glimpsing at the countless fruit and snack stalls along the street, pondering.

This was distinctly a mortal marketplace...

Occasionally, a few Barbarian maidens enjoying spring wandered by, their slender waists tied in silk, brushing past Ning Fan and leaving a lingering fragrance.

There were also valiant travelers, merchants, and peddlers coming and going within the city.

If not in the Barbarian Wilderness Ancient Domain, Ning Fan would never believe these seemingly ordinary creatures were barbarians, capable of transforming into beasts...

The group led by the elder surnamed Yu tactfully took their leave upon reaching a tavern, leaving only Ning Fan and Wu Chen to summon the waiter and order wine, recounting their farewells in detail.

None knew that Ning Fan and Wu Chen were of different races, that they were cultivators.

Seated within the tavern, the two appeared just like ordinary travelers, drinking heartily.

No one disturbed them in their secluded corner as they conversed.

After some exchange of words, Ning Fan learned that Wu Chen had successfully passed the Crossing Truth Realm fifteen years prior. His current venture into the Barbarian Wilderness Ancient Domain was to undertake a task of collecting barbarian corpses.

The reason they were being pursued by Barbarian Beasts, even luring the Shedding Void Barbarian Beast in pursuit, was due to a strange infant...

"If not for Brother Ning’s appearance, I would likely have died at the mouths of that beast horde... Your great kindness goes beyond words! I never imagined that after decades apart, Brother Ning would have achieved such renown and strength, truly making me feel ashamed... Haha, cheers!"

Wu Chen laughed heartily, cracked open the clay seal on the wine jar, and immediately began to drink deeply.

Ning Fan had countless romantic encounters in his lifetime, yet few true friends, Wu Chen being one. Meeting Wu Chen in the Barbarian Wilderness Ancient Domain brought him joy.

As they drank together, Ning Fan gradually shared a brief account of his journey with Wu Chen.

Upon hearing that Ning Fan had yet to achieve Crossing Truth, Wu Chen felt quite incredulous.

"I never imagined that the mighty Rain Immortal Monarch truly hasn’t crossed yet... I had thought that during the grave comparison, Brother Ning was merely suppressing his cultivation, but it seems I guessed wrong... Yet I didn’t expect Brother Ning truly secured first place in the comparison with Guixuan cultivation... Impressive! Rarely do I admire anyone, but Brother Ning undoubtedly earns my respect! Those days... Haha..."

Wu Chen couldn’t help but recall the scene of their first meeting.

Back then, he was understanding the truths in the Rain Immortal World, while Ning Fan was merely a Void Refinement Realm cultivator...

A hundred years later, he finally broke through to the Crossing Truth Realm, while Ning Fan had pursued relentlessly and was likewise on the verge of crossing, with strength far surpassing his own...

’I, Wu Chen, lawless Wu, the dust that slaughters cities!’

’Brother Ning must be observing the void, yet what I see is not the void...’

The past vividly flashed before his eyes, and Ning Fan also shared a knowing smile, lifting a wine jar with one hand to drink deeply.

Wu Chen continued to inform Ning Fan about major events in Eastern Heaven from recent years.

Such as Jilei Palace’s efforts in the last decade, frantically searching throughout Eastern Heaven, yet nobody knew whom they sought.

Also, the successful repairs of the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain’s domain gate, definitively allowing its reopening in approximately ninety years.

However, this reopening, due to the reinforcement of the domain gate, will allow even Crossing Truth cultivators to enter...

But there’s a downside; the price of reinforcing the domain gate means, once the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain is opened this time, it cannot be reopened again...

"Oh? That’s unexpected, Crossing the Truth can also enter... I was worried that breaking through Heavenly Demon would prevent entry..." Ning Fan expressed slight surprise.

"Haha, Brother Ning entering the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain, is unsurprisingly for Medicine Sect’s head disciple... Haha, Brother Ning is indeed a charming person!"

"Speaking of which, Brother Ning rarely enters the Barbarian Wilderness Ancient Domain, why not cross here... This place’s Barbarian City is no different from the mortal realm, making it quite fitting for transformation and understanding truths, and the Barbarian Wilderness Ancient Domain does bear numerous ’Dao-Seeking Fruits’. Consuming one could slightly increase the likelihood of successful crossing... Nine Crossings to Truth Bridge isn’t easy, any chance to improve success is good."

Wu Chen’s words fell upon Ning Fan’s ears, causing his gaze to flicker slightly, yet he smiled and shook his head.

Ning Fan’s primary task was to train the Battle Art Fourth Transformation; crossing into truth could be postponed.

"Our team’s task is to collect a hundred Enlightenment Savage Beast corpses. We’ve currently collected over forty, and we can likely complete the task in seven to eight years, leaving the Barbarian Wilderness Ancient Domain... If Brother Ning hadn’t happened to arrive that day, I would likely have perished in that group of Barbarian Beasts... Really damned dangerous!" Wu Chen sighed.

"Is there any need for Ning Fan’s help in collecting Barbarian Corpses?"

Wu Chen had done Ning Fan a favor, so naturally, Ning Fan didn’t mind helping in return.

"Haha, no need... I still wish to use this slaughter to stabilize my realm. If Brother Ning intervenes in this, I’m afraid it would only take a few days to gather all the Barbarian Corpses, which would be dull." Wu Chen laughed and politely declined Ning Fan’s offer.

"Want to stabilize the Crossing Truth realm, huh..."

Ning Fan thought for a moment and pulled a storage pouch out to hand to Wu Chen.

Upon receiving the pouch, Wu Chen looked inside and his gaze immediately shifted, revealing a solemn expression as he returned the pouch to Ning Fan.

"These Dao Fruits are too plentiful, too precious, Wu Chen cannot accept them!"

"Back when I took things from you, I didn’t hold back... Just accept it." Ning Fan smiled nonchalantly.

Wu Chen was momentarily stunned, then burst out laughing heartily, accepting the storage pouch without pretension.

That wine session lasted nearly half a day before Ning Fan finally took his leave.

Wu Chen still had the task of hunting Barbarian Beasts, while Ning Fan had the task of training the War God Art, so they couldn’t linger together.

"The next time we meet... who knows in which year it will be..." Wu Chen sat alone in the tavern, full of emotions.

...

Ning Fan left Yue Clan City, making his way back to the Black Marsh Great Swamp.

Due to the presence of the Shedding Void Barbarian Beast, Ning Fan hadn’t fought with full effort, and the bottleneck of the War God Art remained unbroken.

He returned both to break through the bottleneck of the War Art and to seek out the so-called strange infant...

He had some concern about the strange infant capable of provoking pursuit by the Shedding Void Barbarian Beast...(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com), with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation. Smartphone users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)