Grasping the Evil-Chapter 921
Immortal Venerable figures are at least at the seventh layer now. At this moment, Ancestor Dulong is almost about to reach the eighth layer, while Ning Fan is still in the fifth layer of Tianque. The distance between them is too great. Even with Ancestor Dulong’s Immortal Venerable cultivation level, it would take considerable time to descend from the seventh layer to the fifth.
"To fulfill the clan leader’s order, I must take a trip to the lower layer of Tianque."
Ancestor Dulong shook his head, turned around, and strode back toward the direction of the lower layer of Tianque.
Currently, there are eight Immortal Venerable masters in the Ninefold Celestial Towers: four Barbarian Ancestors, two Demon Race Immortal Venerables, and two Human Clan Immortal Honorifics. Ancestor Dulong’s height was originally ranked sixth, only behind the four Barbarian Ancestors and Ao Xuan.
As Ancestor Dulong was returning along this path, he concealed his aura, moving almost silently, yet was still noticed by Liuhe and Miaoyan, the two Immortal Honorifics behind him.
"Strange, why is this old Dulong not going upward but downward? Does he not want to go to the top layer and compete for the Ancient Passage?"
Liuhe and Miaoyan’s hearts each stirred with doubt, but being unable to understand, they decided not to dwell on it and continued their ascent.
While Ancestor Dulong was retracing his steps, Ning Fan was climbing all the way, attempting to catch up to the Seventh Generation Barbarian Ancestor to recapture the souls of a million Stone Warriors.
Using the power of numerous Incense Arrows, Ning Fan swiftly advanced. Each palace could only delay him for less than a breath. Until reaching the 52nd Palace on the fifth layer, his gaze slightly tightened as he felt the vast pressure emanating from the 52nd Palace.
"The 52nd Palace is the 496th palace I’ve passed along the way. After 396, indeed it’s 496..."
The pressure within the 52nd Palace was several times stronger than the previous ones. Even with the protection of Incense Arrows, upon entering the palace, there was still a heavy feeling of breath.
He spoke little, under the pressure, walked out of the 52nd Palace, taking a total of ten breaths.
After breaking through the 52nd Palace, a substantial Barbarian Blood emerged within Ning Fan, swallowed by the Blood Lightning. The improvement of Blood Lightning was minimal, which Ning Fan did not mind.
From the 52nd Palace onward, the pressure became increasingly heavy, requiring ten breaths to break through each palace.
This was the speed with the protection of Incense Arrows. Without it, given Ning Fan’s current cultivation, upon entering the palace, he would be directly shaken by the pressure and spat out blood.
With his cultivation, wanting to ascend higher in the Ninefold Celestial Towers is too difficult. But since he was determined to fight the Seventh Generation Barbarian Ancestor and regain the souls of the Stone Warriors, no matter how difficult the journey might be, he would not turn back.
Palace 53, Palace 54, Palace 55... Ning Fan continued onward until reaching Palace 56, corresponding to the number 500. In this palace, Ning Fan similarly did not encounter the fifth pain of tribulation and did not mind.
The further he went, the more difficult it became. It was unknown how long it took until Ning Fan walked out of Palace 111, reaching the highest point of the fifth layer of Tianque.
This time, not only did the voice of the stone elder not appear, but the transmission array that should have appeared was also absent.
"I can only rely on my own means to tear the sky and ascended to the sixth layer."
Ning Fan suddenly flipped his hand, and the Memory Severing Dao Sword appeared directly in his hand, slashing toward the sky, directly creating a rift in the Immortal Clouds, leaping into it.
After experiencing a chaotic void storm, Ning Fan appeared in the sixth layer of Tianque. This layer’s environment is vastly different from the previous five layers, with all the clouds in the sky being red, and countless scarlet thunderbolts falling from the sky, the rumbling sound shaking the eardrums.
But Ning Fan had no interest in observing the scenery here because upon entering the sixth layer, he was immediately locked by a vast killing intent.
On the platform where he stood, a hundred zhang away, unexpectedly stood an old man with violet hair and dragon horns, seemingly waiting here for a long time, surprisingly it was Ancestor Dulong!
"You finally arrived at the sixth layer, I have been waiting for a long time..."
Ancestor Dulong was feigning sleep with his eyes closed, seemingly wanting to say some polite words slowly as he opened his eyes. Upon opening them, seeing Ning Fan’s Ghost Eye silver-haired visage, his gaze shook instantly, his face full of disbelief, and he lost his voice, "How could it be you! Did you steal the Origin Qi of the clan leader?! Impossible!"
The Ancestor Dulong received an order from the chief, instructing him to search the lower level for a mysterious Immortal Venerable and reclaim the Origin Qi. Along the way, he imagined various scenarios of encountering that mysterious Immortal Venerable, but never expected that the ’mysterious Immortal Venerable’ the chief spoke of would be Ning Fan.
The projection of Ning Fan by Hua Yao was too blurred, so the True Dragon Clan Chief did not clearly see the ghostly silver-haired appearance of Ning Fan. Ancestor Dulong received the order and rushed to the lower level, completely unaware that the person he was looking for was Ning Fan.
Ghostly silver hair, ghostly silver hair! How could Ancestor Dulong ever forget the appearance of Ning Fan! How could he forget!
Once the initial shock passed, the killing intent in Ancestor Dulong’s eyes surged, and without a word, he directly summoned a shimmering silver ruler magical treasure and struck down upon Ning Fan’s head!
As soon as the silver ruler was launched into the air, it immediately multiplied into thousands, and countless phantom rulers, like raindrops, fell headlong upon Ning Fan.
Enemies meeting face-to-face sparks intense hatred, Ancestor Dulong couldn’t understand how Ning Fan, with his cultivation, could ascend to the sixth layer. He also couldn’t understand how Ning Fan had become the ’mysterious Immortal Venerable’ mentioned by the clan chief and had taken the chief’s Origin Qi. However, none of this mattered. Once he defeated Ning Fan, and performed Soul Search to destroy this soul remnant, he would naturally know everything!
That silver ruler was a Twelve Nirvana magical treasure, named ’Demon Yuan Ruler’. With Ancestor Dulong’s Immortal Venerable cultivation level fully activated, no one less than an Immortal Venerable could withstand its attack.
This Demon Yuan Ruler, not only powerful, has a special Spirit Augmentation: [Bloodline Suppression]! Any divine skill requiring the power of bloodlines could be forcibly interrupted by the Demon Yuan Ruler! This treasure was borrowed by Ancestor Dulong from a certain Immortal Venerable of the True Dragon Clan specifically to capture Ning Fan.
In Ancestor Dulong’s eyes, Ning Fan was just a junior with cultivation around the Shedding Void Stage. If it weren’t for the frequent interventions of the two Immortal Venerables, Liuhe and Miaoyan, Ancestor Dulong would have captured and killed Ning Fan long ago. Although Ning Fan’s cultivation wasn’t high, there were still things about him that made Ancestor Dulong wary.
"The most concerning aspect about this child is his ancestral bloodline from the Fu Li race! Back then, he burned his ancestral blood unexpectedly and seized the Ancestral Bow from me in one swoop, causing me lifelong shame! I remember that this child burned one drop of ancestral blood, and there are still three drops remaining in his body. If today, this child goes mad again and burns the remaining three drops of ancestral blood, even if I exert all my strength, I might not be able to kill him. Fortunately, I borrowed the Demon Yuan Ruler, with this ruler in hand, he cannot ignite his blood!"
Ancestor Dulong’s gaze grew increasingly fierce, looking at Ning Fan as if he were already a dead man.
In Ancestor Dulong’s view, the Demon Yuan Ruler, with its Bloodline Suppression Great Divine Power, would instantaneously suppress Ning Fan’s blood ignition, interrupting it. If Ning Fan didn’t ignite his blood, with his meager cultivation, he definitely couldn’t withstand a single strike from such a Twelve Nirvana magical treasure!
"A Twelve Nirvana magical treasure..."
As soon as Ning Fan entered the sixth layer, he was ambushed by Ancestor Dulong, feeling a slight shock, but there was not the slightest trace of panic. Having come this far, it wasn’t his first encounter with an Immortal Venerable; without saying a word, he patted his sword pouch, from which five sword lights immediately shot out, directly slashing through the myriad ruler rainfall in the sky!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The five sword lights, naturally, were the five Rain Immortal Swords Ning Fan had refined for many years. Among them, the Weichen Four Swords were of Acquired Five Nirvana rank and had already been severely damaged in previous battles. Now, upon colliding with the myriad ruler rain, the four swords let out a wailing sound and shattered into powder amidst the endless rain of rulers.
For a Crossing Truth Realm master, an Acquired Five Nirvana magical treasure is considered top-tier equipment, but in front of a Twelve Nirvana magical treasure like the Demon Yuan Ruler, a Five Nirvana treasure seemed lacking in power.
Seeing the complete destruction of the Weichen Four Swords, Ning Fan sighed inwardly but said nothing more, focusing all his power on controlling the last Immortal Sword to continue resisting the ruler rain.
This last Immortal Sword was, of course, the Separation and Union Sword of Twelve Nirvana rank. With this sword in hand, Ning Fan was able to withstand the onslaught of the ruler rain for a moment.
"A Twelve Nirvana Immortal Sword!" Ancestor Dulong’s eyes narrowed, and he sneered, "To think a mere junior like you would possess a Twelve Nirvana rank magical treasure! Even for us Immortal Venerables, having a few of such treasures is rare. But unfortunately, for you, the treasure’s rank is too high. Given your cultivation, you can barely utilize a part of its power. As for me, I can fully utilize every bit of power the Demon Yuan Ruler possesses. Your sword cannot contend with my treasured ruler!"
As Ancestor Dulong spoke, he abruptly changed his spirit sense, causing the ruler rain to dissipate, revealing the true form of the Demon Yuan Ruler. The Demon Yuan Ruler suddenly transformed into a giant silver demon dragon, a thousand zhang in length, and devoured the Separation and Union Sword in one gulp.
"From today onwards, this sword belongs to me! Hmph! If you have any other Twelve Nirvana magical treasures, summon them all and present them to me!" Ancestor Dulong cracked a slight, contemptuous smile. He spoke as if he didn’t believe Ning Fan had any other Twelve Nirvana treasures.
For an ordinary Eternal Immortal Venerable, having a single Twelve Nirvana Immortal treasure is already considered remarkable. In Ancestor Dulong’s view, Ning Fan was not an Eternal Immortal Venerable. Having one Twelve Nirvana treasure was already rare, so the likelihood of having a second one was indeed very low.
Indeed, Ning Fan had another Twelve Nirvana magical treasure. Back then, Ning Fan obtained three treasures from the Six Desires Immortal King, among which the Desire-Dissolving Pearl was already destroyed. The Separation and Union Sword was one of the five Rain Immortal Swords Ning Fan refined. Another treasure, equally of Twelve Nirvana rank, was the Burning Sky Fan, capable of releasing corpse flames that could harm.
Only those with the bloodline of the Corpse could use the Burning Sky Fan. Ning Fan, lacking mana before, had never used this fan. But now, having reached the Mid Stage Enlightenment and with his Calamity Blood in small success, he could barely activate some of the Burning Sky Fan’s power.
Of course, Ning Fan understood that his cultivation was vastly inferior to Ancestor Dulong’s. Even using the same Twelve Nirvana magical treasure, the power he could exert was nowhere near as strong as Ancestor Dulong’s.
Theoretically, using the Burning Sky Fan to attack Ancestor Dulong mostly could not harm him in the slightest. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
But in reality, the most formidable aspect of the Burning Sky Fan, known as one of the three great treasures of the Six Desires Immortal King, is not its power to injure, but its ability to deceive.
"If you want to seize my magical treasure, let’s see if you have the skills for it!"
Ning Fan snorted coldly, flipped his hand in a swift gesture, and suddenly, as red light flashed, a gigantic red fan appeared in his hand.
As this fan emerged, the temperature of the whole world suddenly rose, and vaguely, the fan seemed to have traces of fire principles flowing through it.
"Another Twelve Nirvana Magical Treasure!" Ancestor Dulong’s eyes immediately burned with fervor, even feeling slightly envious of this junior, Ning Fan.
He himself only had one Twelve Nirvana Magical Treasure, and when combined with the borrowed Demon Yuan Ruler, he had just two Twelve Nirvana Magical Treasures. Ning Fan, a mere junior who wasn’t even in the Shattered Thought Realm, actually possessed two Twelve Nirvana Magical Treasures, which unsettled Ancestor Dulong.
The flaming red fan clearly wasn’t ordinary. Ancestor Dulong’s heart was moved; as long as he killed Ning Fan, this treasure fan would naturally become his.
"This treasure now belongs to me!" Ancestor Dulong sneered, pointed toward the sky, and immediately, the silver dragon transformed by the Demon Yuan Ruler flew towards Ning Fan, attempting to devour both him and the fan.
Ning Fan’s face turned cold and merciless, holding the Candle Bow in his left hand and the Burning Sky Fan in his right, channeling all his mana and Jie Nian Zhi Li into the Burning Sky Fan. He suddenly raised his hand and fanned the silver dragon.
With this fan, the scarlet flames swept across the world, accompanied by endless lines of fire principles ripping through the sky!
The silver dragon hadn’t yet approached when, suddenly, it was entangled by those lines of principles. Its body immediately started to burn, wailing endlessly. Though it cried out in pain, its body suffered little damage, yet the killing intent in the dragon’s eyes grew increasingly fierce, clearly provoked by Ning Fan’s fan.
"Hmph, an insignificant trick. With your cultivation, you can’t unleash the full power of this fan, which can’t harm this dragon!" Ancestor Dulong scoffed.
Just as he finished speaking, suddenly his old eyes widened in disbelief.
He saw the silver dragon undergo some unforeseeable changes; although unharmed by the flames, its body began to rot bit by bit. Starting from the dragon’s tail, soon half of the dragon’s body was rotting, emitting a foul stench, and filthy blood flowed freely, exposing bare bones beneath the decaying flesh!
This is where the Burning Sky Fan’s maliciousness lay. The flames fanned by the Burning Sky Fan aren’t ordinary Immortal Flames but corpse flames. Against the weak, one fan can reduce someone to ash; against the strong, the Burning Sky Fan may not injure, but it can still undermine them.
Ancestor Dulong, unaware of the Burning Sky Fan’s secrets, couldn’t comprehend in a short time why the silver dragon was hurt.
Ning Fan had no intention of giving Ancestor Dulong time to think carefully, he raised his hand again, and fanned the silver dragon once more. With this fan, the severely injured dragon was blown into ashes, reverting back to the original form of the Demon Yuan Ruler. Ning Fan also seized the opportunity to reclaim the Separation and Union Sword that the dragon previously swallowed.
This was Ning Fan’s first time using his abilities and a bit of calculation to gain advantage over an Immortal Venerable!
"This fan must be peculiar, otherwise with his cultivation, he could never break the Demon Yuan Ruler’s attack!" Ancestor Dulong was secretly shocked, and looked at the Burning Sky Fan with ambition and determination to possess it.
He was just preparing to activate the Demon Yuan Ruler’s attack on Ning Fan again when Ning Fan took the initiative to wield the Burning Sky Fan, fanning Ancestor Dulong!
Knowing there was something unusual about the Burning Sky Fan, Ancestor Dulong wouldn’t take its attacks head-on. He withdrew the Demon Yuan Ruler into his sleeve, slapped his Tian Ling fiercely, causing the Tian Ling cover to open, and seven purple demon lamps flew out to protect his body.
As the scorching fumes of the Burning Sky Fan approached Ancestor Dulong, the seven demon lamps immediately emitted violet light that swept away the fume. Protected by these seven lamps, even the treacherous divine skills of the Burning Sky Fan couldn’t harm Ancestor Dulong.
"Junior, these Seven-Star Lamp are my only Twelve Nirvana Magical Treasure, capable of attack and defense. With this lamp in hand, your treacherous methods can’t harm me! If you have no other means, prepare to die!"
Ancestor Dulong pointed at the seven demon lamps, which instantly each emitted a violet flame, transforming into a fire sea that rushed towards Ning Fan.
Meanwhile, Ancestor Dulong cautiously guarded against Ning Fan using the Blood Ignition Technique. In his view, after Ning Fan used two Twelve Nirvana Magical Treasures without gaining advantage, he was exhausted and likely to use the Blood Ignition Technique desperately.
"As long as the kid uses Blood Ignition Technique, I’ll immediately unleash the Demon Yuan Ruler to suppress his Demon Bloodline! No matter what, I won’t give him a chance to use the Blood Ignition Technique, or if he burns through three drops of his ancestral blood and has two Twelve Nirvana Magical Treasures, he might not be someone I can contend with!"
Facing the fires of the purple sea, Ning Fan took a deep breath but surprisingly, under Ancestor Dulong’s puzzled gaze, stored away the Separation and Union Sword and the Burning Sky Fan.
The Separation and Union Sword couldn’t injure Ancestor Dulong, nor could the Burning Sky Fan undermine him, rendering them insignificant. It’s better to store them away.
His greatest reliance wasn’t these two Twelve Nirvana Treasures; it never had been.
Clutching the Candle Bow tighter, Ning Fan’s gaze sharpened fiercely, and the many incense arrows swirling around him suddenly shone brightly.
These incense arrows, which Ning Fan was reluctant to use and intended to save for a battle with the Seventh Generation Barbarian Ancestor, now had to be utilized since Ancestor Dulong was blocking the way!
"Dulong, do you remember what I said back then?"
Ning Fan’s eyes still flickered coldly, abruptly raising the Candle Bow, drawing five six-colored incense arrows with his right hand and pulling the bowstring!
The moment Ning Fan bent the bow, the usually composed Ancestor Dulong suddenly blanched, sensing an imminent death crisis from the Candle Bow!
"Hiss! What kind of arrow is this, with such terrifying destructive aura!" Ancestor Dulong’s heart was in turmoil!
The Seven-Colored Incense Fire Arrow is a legendary divine skill of the True Dragon Clan, something Ancestor Dulong had never seen. He wouldn’t know beforehand that the arrow Ning Fan prepared to shoot was the famed weapon of Ancestor Dragon Zhuli!
Ancestor Dragon Zhuli, as one man with one bow, had killed countless formidable beings during the Immemorial Era and founded the True Dragon Clan through his power alone. What people revered the most was his use of the Seven-Colored Incense Fire Arrow.
Candle Bow, incarnate as the Bow Spirit, could condense slaughtering incense into arrows. However, no True Dragon Clan member had ever subdued the bow, thus nobody had used it, nor had anyone ever condensed the Seven-Colored Incense Fire Arrow.
The Candle Bow Spirit had always been revered and worshiped in the Ancestral Spirit Pool by the True Dragon Clan, treated as an ancestor, until the bow was taken by Ning Fan. The Seven-Colored Incense Fire Arrow remained a legend in the True Dragon Clan until the day the Candle Bow willingly condensed the arrow for Ning Fan to save its life...
Ancestor Dulong wasn’t aware that the arrows swirling around Ning Fan were the famed six-colored and seven-colored incense arrows in the True Dragon Clan’s history. Though he didn’t know this, he could sense the death crisis from the five six-colored incense arrows about to be released.
Without any hesitation, Ancestor Dulong instantly withdrew the sea of purple flames, abandoning any thoughts of using the seven demon lamps to attack Ning Fan, and selected a random blue stone ancient path, turning to flee toward the seventh layer.
At that moment, he had only one thought: to quickly retreat from here, no matter what Ning Fan was shooting, he must not meet it head-on!
Inside the Ninefold Celestial Towers, there was an extremely potent forbidden force preventing flight, such that even Ancestor Dulong couldn’t fly and could only run.
While he ran frantically, simultaneously activating the powers of Seven Stars Demon Lamps and Demon Yuan Ruler to protect himself, his mind moved, covering his entire body with a layer of violet dragon scales, summoning all the dragon scales he had cultivated for countless years for defense against the six-colored incense arrow’s attack.
"You cannot escape!"
At this moment, Ning Fan released the bowstring, five six-colored incense arrows emitted a piercing howl as they swiftly approached Ancestor Dulong’s back.
Even though he was running frantically, Ancestor Dulong couldn’t outrun the incense arrows as he couldn’t fly.
Despite deploying three layers of defensive protection, Ancestor Dulong was drenched in cold sweat within an instant.
The arrows came too fast, fast enough that he couldn’t react much!
He attempted to turn around, but just halfway, his body was engulfed in the blazing light of the six-colored arrows, his eyes revealing a trace of fierce resolve.
"Junior, you have guts! Trying to kill me with these arrows? Dream on!" (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
