Grasping the Evil-Chapter 975: Jiuli
The 12th time dreaming back to Hai Ning’s Ning Clan...
The 24th time dreaming back to Hai Ning’s Ning Clan...
The 36th time dreaming back...
The 48th time dreaming back...
Ning Fan felt as if trapped in a dream, unable to escape no matter what, returning again and again to Hai Ning’s Ning City.
"Is it my illusion, it feels like I’ve experienced this scene many times already..."
The 49th time dreaming back, Ning Fan appeared again at Hai Ning’s Ning Clan, brows deeply furrowed.
For the first time, he looked up at the sky. The sky was gray, under that grayness, something seemed hidden, watching him. He covered his eyes with Tianren Green Light, yet could see nothing beneath the gray sky...
"I feel like there’s a gaze hidden beneath that gray sky... Is it an illusion..."
In reality, above the gray dome, a gaze was indeed hidden. Seeing Ning Fan looking up at the sky, it was slightly surprised.
"This place is the first layer of the Three Thousand Painted Realms, it’s his 49th cycle of dreaming here... The 49th cycle, has he finally sensed my gaze? Unfortunately, he hasn’t opened his eyes, hasn’t seen the Real Realms, so he can’t see my Dao Carp Sect, nor escape this place’s endless dream repetition, trapped here...
"Not having opened eyes, not a Quasi-Saint, most likely the two kings won’t intervene, the troublesome thing is, he can see through the mystery of this dream realm, which can raise his cultivations sharply, with mysterious techniques matching Dao Source Power, therefore, with my rank fourth strength in Dao Carp Sect, I’m truly no match for him... Are reinforcements still not arriving..."
The 50th time dreaming back, the 51st time, the 52nd time... the 60th time.
Ning Fan arrived once more at the Eastern Heaven, once more warded off the black ink spots, once more... heard that voice of a woman, reminiscent yet almost forgotten.
Little butterfly, don’t sleep, wake up.
Don’t sleep, don’t sleep...
Ning Fan’s brows furrowed deeply, somehow feeling this voice, he hadn’t heard it just once, but repeatedly many times...
"This place feels very strange to me, it’s as though I’ve been continuously doing the same things, like the point trapped on a circle, completing lap after lap, yet never able to leave this circle..."
"The senses can deceive, memories can deceive, but cause and effect alone cannot deceive... Others can’t see the cause and effect, but with my vision in the Second Realm of Tianren, I can see it clearly..."
Ning Fan reached out his hand, grasping at the endless starry sky, promptly revealing dozens of cause and effect lines.
These lines of cause and effect, one end linked to his body, the other end seemed connected to the depths of the void, unknown where it led.
This was the cause and effect Ning Fan formed with that ink, totaling 60 lines!
"What is this person doing..." The gaze hidden within the heaven and earth was utterly puzzled, unable to see the cause and effect, not understanding what Ning Fan had grasped virtually.
Ning Fan’s gaze focused, affirming his inner suspicion.
"60 lines of cause and effect... So, I’ve clashed with that strange ink 60 times already, it’s true, I haven’t experienced this for the first time, but have been repeating it repeatedly!"
"This Pictorial Realm is indeed terrifying, able to make me experience 60 repetitive dream cycles without realizing it... Luckily, I can see cause and effect, following it, I surely can escape this endless cycle of dream repetition..."
Ning Fan raised his right hand, pressing his five fingers toward the direction those cause and effect lines connected, instantly channeling a vast power in that direction.
With Ning Fan’s current virtual rise in cultivation, a press down immediately tore open the void before him, as a drop of black ink fell out from the void crack with a muffled groan.
"Impossible, you haven’t opened your eyes, how can you find my hiding place!" That ink expressed disbelief.
Ning Fan naturally didn’t answer the ink’s question. Without a word, he directly summoned the Liangyi Square Seal, smashing it down upon the ink.
Once struck, the ink let out a muffled groan, retreating in the starry sky, revealing its true form under injury.
The true form of that ink was a white carp ten zhang giant, that drop of ink was indeed the eye of the white carp!
"Could it be... what Senior Mu Song wants me to take, is this carp’s eye..." Ning Fan’s gaze slightly concentrated, secretly pondering.
"An outsider cultivator has the audacity to impersonate a Gold Talisman Palace disciple, infiltrating the Pictorial Realm, the punishment should be gouging both eyes first, refining them into ink, then slaughtering the Spirit to feed my Dao Carp Lineage! With my own strength alone, without reinforcements, killing you isn’t easy, in this way, I can only resort to my life-bound Imperial Gold Talisman, as the fourth Carp General of Dao Carp Sect, to summon the left side of the Imperial Gold Talisman and suppress this cultivator!"
The white carp was furious after Ning Fan struck its true form with a seal, actually spitting out a ray of golden light from its mouth, under the golden light was an ancient and worn talisman paper.
On the four corners of the talisman paper were mysterious and esoteric symbols, while in the center, in cinnabar, was written a hasty "圭" character.
"This is..." Ning Fan’s gaze focused, sensing an extremely perilous feeling from the damaged talisman.
This character, "圭", seems... very familiar...
"By the order of my Dao Carp sect’s fourth Carp General, summon the Imperial Gold Talisman, seal and extinguish this Master!"
White Carp spat out another golden light, and again, beneath the light was an ancient talisman paper. However, this time, the paper bore the character ’寸’...
The characters ’圭’ and ’寸’ together form the character for ’seal’!
"This... resembles the power of the Heaven-Sealing Celestial Decree!"
Ning Fan’s sense of crisis intensified as the two talisman papers undeniably contained power comparable to the Heaven-Sealing Celestial Decree!
One should know that when the Heaven-Sealing Celestial Decree locked the primitive wilderness in the past, giants like the Tongtian Ancient Emperor or the Chief of the True Dragon Clan, who were first-order Quasi-Saints, were unable to forcibly enter the wilderness, which speaks volumes about the decree’s might.
The two talisman papers before him possess sealing force no less powerful than the Heaven-Sealing Celestial Decree. How could they be underestimated!
"Seal!"
White Carp coldly shouted, and the two talisman papers instantly merged into one. In an instant, a crimson light swept across the starry sky. Wherever the crimson light went, all the Great Daos were sealed, and on the traces, a layer of crimson ice seemed to solidify, freezing the operation of the Daos.
The light shot forward all the way and, upon nearing a hundred meters from Ning Fan, suddenly transformed into a giant web big enough to obscure the starry sky, sealing all of Ning Fan’s escape routes and abruptly covering him.
Ning Fan urged the Liangyi Square Seal to strike towards the web. This seal was an innate magical treasure, and its momentum was earth-shattering. One seal shook the heavens, and the force of its smash could make the starry sky tremble. Despite its immense power, when smashed upon the web, it felt like a fist hitting cotton, unable to break the magic with force, blocking the web’s descent. Instead, the web was stained with a layer of crimson exotic glow.
Subsequently, a crimson ’封’ character appeared on the seal, and the Dao source power within the seal was immediately, forcefully sealed, unable to exert its mighty force any further.
"My Gold Talisman Palace’s Imperial Gold Talisman can seal everything in the world; it particularly excels at restraining various magical treasures. In this world, there’s always something to overcome another. This child’s innate treasure seal is not weak. It has approached the grade of mid-level innate, but unfortunately, against this general’s life-bound Imperial Gold Talisman, it ends up being restrained!" White Carp thought disdainfully.
Seeing that the Liangyi Square Seal couldn’t even slightly block the web, Ning Fan’s expression grew more solemn. Without hesitation, he directly channeled the power of the God-Extinguishing Shield, transforming into the golden flame shadow of the God-Slaying Giant outside his body.
At this moment, all four of his cultivations inflated to the Nine Tribulations Peak, and with the four forces combined, he could exert the strength of a first-order Quasi-Saint. Utilizing the God-Extinguishing Shield with such cultivation, naturally, the God-Slaying Giant would be immensely formidable.
The God-Slaying Giant, holding a shield with its left hand, slightly crouched its body, and with a roar, dashed forward like a cannonball. As it charged forward, the traces shattered.
White Carp’s eyes were filled with even more disdain. He could vaguely see that Ning Fan had borrowed some magical treasure’s power to manifest the giant protector outside his body. Magical treasure’s power huh... Heh, the Imperial Gold Talisman of the Gold Talisman Palace was made to counter all heavenly magical treasures. This child’s treasure would surely be instantly sealed by the Imperial Gold Talisman!
However, the development completely caught White Carp by surprise.
Suddenly, a loud boom was heard as the crimson web, big enough to cover the heavens, was brazenly smashed out of the way by Ning Fan, creating a large hole with golden flames blazing fiercely over it.
This web, which could easily seal the attacks of the Liangyi Square Seal, couldn’t seal the collision of the God-Extinguishing Shield!
Ning Fan continued to control the God-Slaying Giant, recklessly charging forward. Within a few breaths, he smashed the Zhou Tian web into pieces, breaking it into scattered crimson dust...
Once the web broke, the talisman papers which had merged together shook and then separated, their spiritual light dimming significantly. It seemed they got strongly counteracted by Ning Fan breaking them.
White Carp, whose life was bound to the Imperial Gold Talisman, received even more intense backlash!
The Imperial Gold Talisman of the Gold Talisman Palace is truly life-bound. If the talisman is damaged, the cultivator themselves will suffer severe injuries. Because this talisman is related to one’s life, it cannot be used recklessly. Hence, White Carp had not used it prior. If not for Ning Fan being too difficult to deal with, White Carp would definitely not have used it.
Due to the talisman being damaged, White Carp’s aura immediately weakened by one-third, his expression incredibly shocked.
"Impossible! How could this child’s magical treasure directly break my all-countering Imperial Gold Talisman! This general is formed from a tenth-level Imperial-Grade Dao Soul Dao Carp, and this Imperial Gold Talisman’s grade has reached mid-level innate. Against a superior innate magical treasure, it’d have a huge advantage. Even if not victorious, it wouldn’t lose so easily! This child wielded a defensive magical treasure; attacking isn’t its strength, so how can it directly break the Imperial Gold Talisman’s seal..."
"Could it be that this child is using a supreme innate magical treasure, which is only qualified for Saints to use!"
As soon as this possibility was considered, White Carp’s expression became extremely unpleasant.
In terms of cultivation, Ning Fan falsely inflated his strength enough to manifest first-order Quasi-Saint power, while White Carp’s cultivation weakened by a third due to backlash from the magical treasure. Comparing the two, White Carp had already fallen behind in terms of cultivation!
In terms of divine skills, he excelled in using Yang Dao Origin Force for attacking enemies first and employing life-bound Imperial Gold Talisman to seal enemies second. But now, both were broken by Ning Fan...
"Damn! Why hasn’t reinforcements arrived yet? With just my own strength, it’s absolutely impossible to kill this child. If I persist in combat, I’d face deadly danger!"
White Carp panicked; he opened his mouth and swallowed the Imperial Gold Talisman back into his stomach, not daring to use it further, fearing more damage and backlash by using it again. Then, with a flick of his body, he dispersed like ink, fleeing once more, not daring to confront Ning Fan directly.
"Trying to escape?"
The God-Slaying Giant grabbed, and the Cause and Effect Line between Ning Fan and White Carp instantly showed up with utmost clarity.
Following the direction of the Cause and Effect Line, the God-Slaying Giant charged forward, diving directly into the endless void, emerging into another realm.
It was no longer the scene of the four heavens and nine worlds, but rather a boundless black ground with sky reaching out endlessly bathed in golden color.
This is the second layer of the Pictorial Realm. The White Carp was resting in this layer of the world, and upon seeing that Ning Fan actually pursued him to this layer, his expression changed dramatically.
"Impossible! Without opening your eyes, without finding the way to the second layer, you just crashed in with brute force!"
Taken aback, the White Carp fled towards the third layer of the Pictorial Realm again, its speed exceptionally fast.
Ning Fan would not let this White Carp escape. Earlier, this carp had intended to kill him, and now, it was going to pay the price!
The God-Slaying Giant opened a path between the golden sky and black earth with a single crash, chasing all the way into the third, fourth, fifth layers...
After all, the White Carp possessed cultivation comparable to a First Order Quasi-Saint. Many times, Ning Fan nearly caught up with the carp, but lacked the means to grievously injure a First Order Quasi-Saint. He could only wound the carp repeatedly with brute force without being able to deliver a fatal blow.
The White Carp fled continually, its injuries ought to worsen more and more, yet strangely, the deeper it fled into the Pictorial Realm, the lighter its wounds became, and its momentum slightly increased. On the contrary, the deeper Ning Fan went, the more suppressed his aura became...
"Foolish cultivator! You dare pursue me! Fine, if you have the skills then keep chasing me! If I enter beyond the thousand-layer mark, I can instantly heal these minor injuries, and with the increase in aura, I might not lose to you who are suppressed by your cultivation. Moreover, if I can summon reinforcements from the depths, it won’t be as difficult to kill you as it was before..."
Seeing that Ning Fan still couldn’t kill him, the White Carp felt slightly reassured. Occasionally, he let out strange roars as if calling for reinforcements...
"There’s something peculiar about this place. The further in I go, the more suppressed I become, but this carp seems to thrive here..."
A glimmer of azure light flickered in Ning Fan’s eyes, barely perceiving that the true form of the White Carp resembled an existence akin to the Heaven’s Dao Soul, not a demon beast.
A sudden realization dawned within him; the deeper into the Pictorial Realm he went, the more amplification it seemed to provide to beings like the Dao Soul, while increasingly restraining cultivators.
"I can’t go any deeper. I must devise a way to sever this carp early, at the very least seize the carp’s fish eyes; delay brings change..."
"I am not a true Quasi-Saint; my cultivation is only pretentious. It’s hard to slay this Quasi-Saint Dao Carp with a fake cultivation. If I truly can’t slay this carp or get the fish eyes, I might have to retreat from this realm for now. In any case, I mustn’t enter deeper into the Pictorial Realm!"
The deeper he went, the more Ning Fan could sense that lurking within the depths of the Pictorial Realm lay numerous formidable presences, ten or more with power comparable to an Immortal Emperor! Several other presences like the Quasi-Saint aura of the White Carp existed as well.
Among them, there were even two auras, though not as powerful as Yin Mo, far stronger than Mu Song!
These were Second Order Quasi-Saint auras! And not ordinary Second Order Quasi-Saints! For some reason, these two auras, one Yin and one Yang, together exuded a threat comparable to a Third Order Quasi-Saint for Ning Fan...
Ning Fan was secretly startled; the depths of this Pictorial Realm might be extremely perilous, and given his current cultivation level, he’d best avoid courting death by entering there...
layers, 200 layers, 300 layers... 900 layers!
The White Carp had already recovered most of its injuries and with its secret technique, detected that reinforcements lay not far ahead.
"Oh? The top three Carp Generals have all set out. With this, even if the two great kings don’t act, we have four First Order Quasi-Saints who can besiege him. We are sure to execute him here! This one’s true cultivation isn’t high, his spirit might be distasteful, but if we can seize the top-grade innate treasure in his possession and present it to the two great kings, it will surely be a significant achievement..."
The White Carp sneered continuously, the scales of victory beginning to tilt in his favor.
Ning Fan’s senses were exceptionally keen; he could perceive not only the White Carp but also three other Quasi-Saint level auras rapidly approaching his direction.
This is troublesome. It seems not only might I fail to kill the White Carp, but I also might end up besieged by four Quasi-Saints...
"The fish eyes that Senior Mu Song needs seem unlikely to be obtained now..."
Ning Fan sighed slightly; upon reaching the 900th layer of the Pictorial Realm, his cultivation was nearly suppressed by fifty percent. If he were besieged by four Quasi-Saints, even with the God-Extinguishing Shield as protection, he might end up in a Nine-Deaths-One-Life situation.
Moreover, within the depths of the Pictorial Realm lurked even more terrifying presences...
No wonder so many old monsters perished here; the danger and strangeness of this place were by no means ordinary...
Pictorial Realm, the 922nd layer.
Chasing all the way here, Ning Fan decided not to continue pursuing the White Carp, sighing slightly as he retracted the God-Slaying Giant’s manifestation, turned around, and left.
Seeing Ning Fan inexplicably choose not to pursue further, the White Carp cursed Ning Fan for his cunning. Had Ning Fan persisted a while longer, he could have joined other Quasi-Saint Carp Generals to besiege Ning Fan.
"Hmph! You chase me all this way and expect to leave just like that? There’s no such easy thing in the world!"
The White Carp, seeing Ning Fan trying to flee, turned and pursued, cursing and snarling with outrageous arrogance, seemingly intent on provoking Ning Fan into fighting him.
A glacial glint grew heavier in Ning Fan’s eyes. A single White Carp he did not fear, but against three more, he had no certainty of escaping unscathed. He had no choice but to endure the White Carp’s taunts.
Inwardly, there was a hint of frustration.
"Master... please allow the Black Evil Sect to battle..." A cold and detached feminine voice suddenly echoed in Ning Fan’s divine sense.
It was the Heavenly Dao Black Cat, whom Ning Fan had subdued earlier, requesting to fight on his behalf.
The black cat was deeply asleep in the Western Xuanyin Realm but sensed the oppression within Ning Fan.
The master seemed to be bullied...
The one bullying the master seemed to be... just some Dao Carp...
Courting death, courting death! Just a mere Dao Carp... dare to bully the master!
"You want to fight? Huh, you can talk?" Ning Fan was slightly surprised. Since subduing the black cat, it was the first time he heard it speak.
It turned out this black cat could talk, it just didn’t like to talk.
If it weren’t for seeing Ning Fan being bullied this time, if it weren’t for seeing the master’s humiliation and getting angry, she would never have opened her mouth to speak. Her character was most silent and reticent.
"..." The black cat said nothing more, but the fighting spirit erupting from her was overwhelming; her desire to fight no longer needed words.
"You may not be a match for that White Carp..." Ning Fan subtly transmitted his voice to the black cat.
The black cat and the White Carp were both Heaven’s Dao Souls, but their levels were vastly different.
That White Carp’s Dao Soul level was extremely high and could display quasi-saint cultivations, naturally not of the mortal grade. The black cat, however, was different. She was originally a Dao Soul from the Barbarian Wilderness Heavenly Dao, and because the Barbarian Wilderness Heavenly Dao was damaged, her power was also not strong. If the White Carp was a tenth-level Emperor-Grade Heaven’s Dao Soul, then the black cat was perhaps only at the second-level Emperor-Grade, eight grades below the White Carp...
In Ning Fan’s opinion, the black cat was not the White Carp’s opponent, and naturally, he did not want her to go out and die.
"Master... trust me... I can..." The black cat, who did not like to speak, forced herself to utter another sentence.
Her will was very steadfast, and Ning Fan, who cultivated War Yin and Yang, could perceive her strong will.
Not allowing her master to be humiliated was absolutely not allowable!
If anyone dared to bully my master, I would even defy heaven to vent for my master!
Believe in me, I can do it, please master believe in me...
"Could it be that this black cat has some secret technique that could harm the White Carp..." Ning Fan silently speculated.
The black cat carried an aura of confidence, as if she truly never considered the White Carp worth noticing...
Thinking of this, Ning Fan no longer escaped, at layer 914, he stopped his escape light, coldly watching the approaching White Carp.
"Oh? Not running anymore? Resigned to your fate?" The White Carp sneered.
"Hmm, I have one servant who wants to fight you; I want her to try." Ning Fan said calmly.
There was still a little time. If the black cat couldn’t harm the White Carp, he could still escape.
"Hmph, even you are no match for this general; how could your servant be my equal in a single bout!" The White Carp sneered even more, but the next moment, he was unable to laugh.
Only to see Ning Fan summon with a hand, immediately a black light was summoned by him, it was a palm-sized black cat.
The aura of this black cat was not terrifying enough to make the White Carp fear.
The black cat’s appearance was not fierce at all, yet as soon as this cat appeared, the previously arrogant White Carp felt fear for the first time!
The White Carp seemed to fall into an ice cave in an instant, bones chilled; he couldn’t imagine, couldn’t fathom, that the servant Ning Fan referred to was such a terrifying creature!
"Nine... Nine-Tailed Fox! It’s the fourth-ranked in the top ten Dao Soul Clans above the three worlds, the Nine-Tailed Fox Dao Soul!"
This Nine-Tailed Fox was quite unique; before its transformation, it had no cultivation by itself and could only merge with Masters to enhance the Master’s cultivation.
But even without transforming, the Nine-Tailed Fox was enough to make most Dao Soul Clans tremble!
Because the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan used other Heavenly Dao Souls as their food!
Most of the Dao Soul Clans faced bloodline suppression from the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan, among them, the Dao Carp Clan was most suppressed!
Cats eat fish, this is the most fundamental rule in the universe! The Dao Carp Clan is precisely the favorite food of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan!
"Not good! This Nine-Tailed Fox may only be Imperial-Grade Level Two, but it is still enough to kill me!"
The once extremely arrogant White Carp turns panic-stricken, turns around and runs, fleeing desperately...(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
