Grasping the Evil

Chapter 572: Fusang Old Demon

Tang Gu, after all, is a place surrounded by tree devils, not suitable for retreat and healing.

Holding the injured Tong Tong in his left hand, Ning Fan waved his right hand, casting a void teleportation technique, wrapping up Qingdai and the other sword spirits, turning into a wisp of smoke, drifting out of Tang Gu.

Outside of Tang Gu, in a deserted tree valley, Ning Fan retracted his escape light and appeared gracefully, establishing a simple cave abode on the tree mountain, instructing Qingdai and the four sword spirits to guard outside, while he carried Tong Tong inside for healing.

The four sword spirits were startled upon hearing Ning Fan’s command.

Before this, the four sword spirits were not truly loyal to Ning Fan, and always resented his orders.

Now, in order to heal Tong Tong, the four sword spirits heeded Ning Fan’s words, hesitated for a moment, and decided to obey the order to guard outside the cave.

"You must heal Tong Tong; as long as you do, the eldest sister will listen to you from now on! I promise!"

"The second sister will also listen!"

"The third sister will listen as well!"

"The fourth sister will too!"

"Little Fan Fan, you must heal Tong Tong!"

Hearing the words of the four little girls, Ning Fan nodded in satisfaction.

Ning Fan healing Tong Tong was both a responsibility to his own sword spirits and partly to ease the awkward relationship with the spirits, to gain their genuine loyalty.

The Life and Death Seal is ultimately just a means.

Qingdai, having heard Ning Fan’s order, bit her lip, and also decided to comply, going outside the cave to guard.

She couldn’t fully believe that Ning Fan was the current Tree Sovereign; after all, the black wooden token had been missing for years, and suddenly it appeared in Ning Fan’s hand, anyone would doubt its authenticity.

However, Qingdai could be sure of one thing: Ning Fan genuinely protected her, harboring no ill will.

If she hadn’t intruded into Tang Gu on her own, Ning Fan wouldn’t have hastily fought against two Tree Kings.

Had Ning Fan entered Tang Gu alone, he would have surely used the Heaven Deceiving Cloak to conceal himself, launching a preemptive strike, assassinating one Tree King, and then, with the five sword spirits, besiege another... that would’ve been the prudent plan.

Qingdai disrupted Ning Fan’s plan, but Ning Fan still fearlessly saved her from the Tree Kings.

After rescuing Qingdai, Ning Fan didn’t even plant any Restrictive or demon seals on her.

Qingdai’s combat strength was weak, but she was intelligent. Numerous signs indicated that Ning Fan had no ill will towards her, making him trustworthy.

She also wasn’t worried that Ning Fan had any sinister intentions towards the Min Luo Race...

To put it bluntly, the Min Luo Race now was so weakened, besides Qingdai, there was no other Void Refinement cultivator.

With the Min Luo Race so weak, if Ning Fan truly had ill intentions, he wouldn’t need to be kind to Qingdai; he could suppress the Min Luo Race directly with his strength, without any cunning tricks.

"Lu Bei is a trustworthy person. He said he came on a friend’s request to protect the Min Luo Race... but there’s one thing I can’t figure out, who could this friend be..."

...

Ning Fan entered the cave abode, with a casual flick of his sleeve, instantly making tables, chairs, and a bed appear in the empty cave.

Placing the barely alive Tong Tong on the bed, Ning Fan tapped his storage pouch, retrieving several pill bottles and some high-quality flying swords, placing them on the jade table nearby.

Tong Tong’s yellow dress had multiple damages, and her plain little skirt was stained red with blood.

Her body was only the size of Ning Fan’s thumb, her face pale, moaning endlessly in pain, crying like raindrops on a pear blossom.

"Pain... it hurts..."

Ning Fan looked at Tong Tong with pity. Clearly, she was a little stammerer, afraid of death, yet went to save others, a truly foolish child.

"Get some sleep."

Ning Fan sent a wisp of Yin Plucking Finger into Tong Tong’s body, putting her to sleep.

Then he took the pill bottles from the jade table, poured all the pills into a jade bowl.

These pills were all for enhancing a sword cultivator’s cultivation, but for Tong Tong, they were the best Healing Pills.

Tong Tong was a Sword Spirit; her body was a Spiritual Body, vastly different from a cultivator’s physical structure.

Regular Healing Pills couldn’t help her heal. Her injuries weren’t flesh wounds but injuries to the Sword Spirit’s Spiritual Body.

Hence, Ning Fan took out the Sword Cultivation Pills, to strengthen Tong Tong’s Sword Spirit Spiritual Body, assisting in her healing.

It sounded easy, but the process wasn’t simple.

Tong Tong’s body was too small to swallow a whole pill.

Thus, Ning Fan needed another method to administer the medicine.

He dissolved dozens of Sword Pills in a jade bowl with clear water.

With a flash of fire in his fingers, the clear water was warmed.

Then Ning Fan held up the sleeping Tong Tong, tapped once, turning her clothes to ashes, and placed her tiny body into the jade bowl.

To Tong Tong, this small jade bowl was akin to a huge bath.

And the clear water infused with dissolved medicine was the best medicinal bath.

The sleeping Tong Tong soaked in the jade bowl, the medicated water seeping into her wounds, washing away the blood stains, the wounds gradually healing, making her let out a comfortable soft sigh, the pain on her little face slightly easing.

Her small face was clean, emanating an innocent and childlike charm, very adorable; if she grew up, she’d probably be a beauty.

Now, she was naked, bathing in the jade bowl, Ning Fan scrutinized her features without a trace of desire.

She was merely a thumb-sized little girl; who would have desires towards her?

Seeing Tong Tong’s complexion gradually improve, Ning Fan nodded in satisfaction, then picked up the flying swords on the jade table, exerting his palm force, shattering them all.

These flying swords were all of considerable spirituality, all snatched from Vast Frost City, with the lowest being Transformation Realm flying swords.

He shattered a total of sixty-three Transformation Realm flying swords, fifteen Mortal Void Realm flying swords, refining all the Sword Spirits within, and poured them into the jade bowl for Tong Tong to absorb, stabilizing her Spiritual Body.

After absorbing the pill power and the Sword Spirits’ strength, the wounds on Tong Tong’s body gradually healed, and her Spiritual Body gradually stabilized.

But her little face was still a bit pale, somewhat weak, likely needing to soak in the jade bowl for several more days to completely recover.

Knowing that Tong Tong’s injuries were no longer a major problem, Ning Fan transmitted a message for Jing Jing to enter the cave abode to look after Tong Tong, while others continued to guard the cave.

His figure blurred, entering the Yuan Yao Realm’s Dark Golden Pagoda, summoning his Natal Black Star to begin healing himself.

Taking a Sixth Revolution Pill, he immediately sat cross-legged, refining the medicinal power...

Three days later, Tong Tong stretched lazily, let out a comfortable yawn, and awakened.

Three days in the outside world meant a year in the seventh level of the Dark Golden Pagoda. Ning Fan had also stabilized his injuries, though hard to completely heal.

The injuries caused by the giant ghost’s attack were not hard to cure; the problem was the burns caused by the backlash of the Void Ignition Technique.

Those burns damaged the Spirit, with the main injuries on the Spirit, which is the foundation of a Void Refinement cultivator.

If the physical body is destroyed but the Spirit remains, a cultivator can still survive.

If the physical body remains but the Spirit is dead, the cultivator is considered fallen.

Ning Fan, after all, isn’t truly a Returned Origin Grand Void, just a Void Inquiry cultivator, even with many means, the Butterfly Fire Fourth Fan was too much of a stretch.

"Unless my cultivation advances further, I can’t perfectly execute the Butterfly Fire Fourth Fan..."

"This time using the Butterfly Fire technique, damaged the foundation of the Spirit, lost quite a bit of life force, requires good care. It’s best to find a Cauldron Furnace, replenish by extracting, quickly recovering the lost life force... Extracting from a high-grade Cauldron Furnace is more effective than any Healing Pills..."

"Though I can battle the Returned Origin Grand Void, it’s only a worthy fight; with my current strength, I can’t sweep through the Returned Origin Grand Void..."

Ning Fan exhaled a turbid breath, his figure flickered, leaving the Yuan Yao Realm, returning to the external cave abode.

At this time, aside from his Spirit still injured, the injuries of his immortal vein and internal organs had healed.

Tong Tong had regained health, standing with the other four sword spirits respectfully on the jade table, awaiting Ning Fan’s return.

Seeing Ning Fan exit the Yuan Yao Realm, all five sword spirits blushed, respectfully bowing.

"Elder Sister greets Little Fan Fan!"

"Second Sister greets Little Fan Fan!"

"Third Sister greets Little Fan Fan!"

"Fourth Sister greets Little Fan Fan!"

"Fif... Fif... Fif..."

"Tong Tong is a little stammerer, can’t even complete her sentences. What she wants to say is, thank you for saving her, she is willing to devote herself and marry you!"

The other sword spirits teased as they heard Tong Tong stammering.

At the joking mention of "devote herself," Tong Tong’s face turned even redder, shaking her head repeatedly in denial.

"No... no... no... it’s not..."

The few young girls were playfully teasing each other, as Tong Tong’s injuries had healed, and each of them was in high spirits.

Ning Fan smiled slightly. After this incident, the five young girls had truly pledged their loyalty to him. This was good.

He glanced sideways at Qingdai and suddenly asked with a smile, "I have killed the Tang Valley Tree King, and now I need to return to Yu Yi City to submit the task, and pass through the realm gate to go to the Eastern Tree Ocean. After I reach the Eastern Tree Ocean, I will pay a visit to the Ming Luo Clan. Do you want to return to the Eastern Tree Ocean with me, or do you wish to stay in the Northern Tree Ocean?"

"I’ll go back to the Eastern Tree Ocean with you... I only left the Eastern Tree Ocean to search for the remains of ten ancestors at the Void Refinement realm..."

Halfway through her words, Qingdai suddenly showed a hesitant expression and looked at Ning Fan with pleading eyes. She bit her lip and spoke up.

"Qingdai dares to trouble Senior Lu with a request..." She addressed him as ’senior’ instead of ’Tree Emperor,’ as the identity of the Ming Luo Tree Emperor was of great importance and could not be assumed just because Ning Fan held the black wooden token.

How did Ning Fan obtain the black wooden token? Whose protection was he under for the Ming Luo Clan? These matters needed to be made clear.

"What is it?" Ning Fan possessed the Mind Reading Technique and naturally perceived Qingdai’s thoughts, knowing what she was thinking, but he didn’t point it out. Instead, he looked at Qingdai with a seemingly smiling expression.

"Sir, you have slain two Tree Kings and completed the Five-Star Mission alone, which allows you to obtain ten Ming Luo puppets at the Void Glimpse stage and 20 billion immortal jade from the Pill Sovereign... Qingdai has an impolite request, to purchase ten Ming Luo puppets from you..."

After Qingdai made her request, she anxiously watched Ning Fan, fearing that he might refuse.

Ning Fan neither agreed nor refused, giving Qingdai a meaningful glance and asked, "Are you a Puppet Master?"

"Yes! Although my abilities are weak, my puppet techniques are considered among the best in the Eastern Tree Ocean."

"How does your puppet technique compare to the City Lord of Vast Frost City?"

"The City Lord of Vast Frost City? Are you referring to Fellow Daoist Guang Hanzi?" Qingdai was surprised but then confidently said, "My puppet technique is unique to the Ming Luo Clan. Guang Hanzi is not as skilled! However, I have heard that Guang Hanzi’s master was an extraordinary Puppet Master, though he has long since perished. Compared to his master, I am not as skilled."

"Oh? You do seem confident in your puppet technique. However, as far as I know, your storage pouch does not contain even a single puppet of the Void Refinement level, only 200 Transformation Realm puppets..."

"That’s correct, I do not have a Void Refinement puppet with me..." Qingdai sighed softly. Given her puppet skills, creating a Void Glimpse stage puppet was not difficult, she could even refine Void Inquiry puppets...

Her puppet skills were extremely advanced and could rank among the top three in the Eastern Tree Ocean.

Unfortunately, the Ming Luo clan has fallen into decline. Sacrificing a hundred thousand clan members to allow Qingdai to break through to Void Glimpse was already difficult; they simply lacked the resources to produce Void Glimpse stage puppets for Qingdai...

"Do you want these ten puppets to enhance your strength?" Ning Fan deliberately asked.

"No, it’s not that... I just want to retrieve the remains of my ancestors and bury them within the clan’s ’Phantom Grave’... It is the wish of countless clan members, as they cannot bear for the bodies of our ancestors to be lost outside..." Qingdai, recalling the clan members who died for her, had tears welling up in her eyes.

"I see... in that case, how about this: you agree to one condition from me, and I will give you the ten Ming Luo puppets to take back to the clan for burial."

"What condition?" Qingdai’s pretty face flushed, and she lowered her head, her eyes filled with a bit of panic.

In order to retrieve the remains of the ancestors, as long as Ning Fan’s condition did not harm her Ming Luo clan members, she was prepared to agree to anything.

Even if Ning Fan demanded something excessive, wanting to take her as a concubine, she would not hold any grudge.

"Rest assured, my condition will not put you in a difficult position; I just wish to borrow your puppet technique for use... Never mind, I will tell you about this matter later on. For now, let’s return to Yu Yi City."

Ning Fan meant to have Qingdai help him repair the Void Fragmentation realm puppet.

Since her puppet technique surpassed that of Guang Hanzi, having her repair the puppet would naturally have a higher success rate.

The reason he proposed this condition was also because he wanted to rightfully give the Ming Luo puppets to Qingdai.

The reason he sought this task was solely to gain the Ming Luo puppets and deliver them to the Ming Luo clan for burial.

Now, with Qingdai harboring the same intention, wanting to retrieve the Ming Luo puppets.

Therefore, Ning Fan was willing to hand over the puppets to her, allowing her to take them back for burial.

After all, Qingdai was the true Ming Luo High Priest, while Ning Fan was merely a nominal Ming Luo Tree Emperor. Having Qingdai take the lead made more sense...

"Let’s go."

Ning Fan retrieved the five Sword Spirits back into the sword pouch, flicked his sleeve, and performed the void teleportation technique, taking Qingdai back to Yu Yi City.

Ju Mang Country, Yu Yi City!

Three days had passed since Ning Fan took on the task.

Within the Royal Palace Hall, the Pill Sovereign Tang Xiong sat peacefully on his throne, meditating with closed eyes.

A gentle breeze blew in, and suddenly the figures of Ning Fan and Qingdai appeared within the hall.

Tang Xiong opened his eyes and glanced at the two, smiling, "Has Fellow Daoist Lu completed the task?"

Tang Xiong said this only as a guess.

He could tell that Ning Fan was not a person who spoke empty words. Since Ning Fan claimed the mission alone that day, he must have the confidence to kill the two Tree Kings.

Three days ago, Ning Fan took on the mission and left.

Now that he had returned, it might be that something unexpected happened during the mission, and he had something to discuss with him.

Or perhaps Ning Fan had already completed the mission, and his return was entirely for handing it over and exchanging for rewards.

Tang Xiong glanced at Ning Fan’s expression and saw his relaxed and unhurried smile, not looking as if there had been any unexpected events.

Thus, he asked Ning Fan if he had completed the mission.

Even though he asked, Tang Xiong was internally doubtful, finding it hard to believe Ning Fan could complete the mission in just three days.

With just one look, Ning Fan saw through Tang Xiong’s thoughts and replied with a faint smile.

"Mission accomplished."

After speaking, Ning Fan patted the storage pouch, taking out two tightly sealed Spirits, which were indeed the Spirits of the two Tree Kings!

Ning Fan’s reply was only four words, but these four words, when heard by Tang Xiong, caused the latter’s gaze to tremble, confirming his earlier suspicions!

The sight of these two feeble Spirits before Tang Xiong left him momentarily breathless...

These were the Spirits of two Returned Origin cultivators! Yet Ning Fan had captured them so effortlessly?

In merely three days, Ning Fan had truly slain the two Returned Origin Tree Kings and completed the mission!

"Your abilities are astonishing, Daoist! I am utterly ashamed of myself! I wonder how you managed to kill the two Tree Kings?" Tang Xiong stood up, deeply admiring Ning Fan.

"Does the process really matter?" Ning Fan showed a cryptic smile.

"Haha, your words are true, Daoist, the process isn’t important, only the result matters. Since you captured the two Tree Kings’ Spirits, it’s undeniable. Completing this Five-Star Mission alone grants you ten Min Luo puppets and 20 billion immortal jade as rewards. Shall I arrange for you to claim the rewards now?"

"Indeed." Ning Fan nodded.

"Alright, in that case, please follow me to the underground treasury of the Royal City, where all mission rewards are distributed from."

"The underground treasury of the Royal City?" Ning Fan asked in surprise.

"Correct, the Bamboo Emperor declared the mission, and naturally the corresponding rewards must be distributed. The aggregation of all mission rewards constitutes a wealth large enough to tempt the Void Fragmentation realm old monsters... The treasury is guarded by the Fusang Clan’s ancestor. Without our ancestor there, how could I, with my cultivation, protect such vast treasures amidst the wolves in the Northern Forest Sea?"

While explaining, Tang Xiong took out a token, activated it towards the throne, which immediately vanished into a light, revealing a dark passage leading straight to the underground of the Royal City.

Ning Fan, scanning the passage with his spirit sense, detected no barriers, so there was no issue in entering.

At the bottom of the passage, a million feet below, there was a gigantic treasury, outside of which grew an enormous Fusang Tree.

With Ning Fan’s vision, it was evident that the Fusang Tree was not an actual tree but a Fusang Tree Demon of the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm!

This must be the Fusang ancestor Tang Xiong mentioned, responsible for guarding the treasury here.

With such a guardian, no matter how abundant the rewards within the treasury, no Void Fragmentation realm old monster would dare seize them.

"Are you the Fellow Daoist Lu who completed the Five-Star Mission? Haha, you seem quite young, barely nine hundred years of bone age, and you have slain two Returned Origin Grand Void on your own... At your age, I was merely at the Divinity Transformation realm... Alas, how embarrassing..."

Outside the underground treasury, the majestic Fusang Tree shimmered into a black-robed elder.

The elder’s gaze was as deep as the ocean, meeting Ning Fan’s eyes through the million-feet underground.

"I am the Fusang Clan’s ancestor, known as the ’Fusang Old Demon’. Fellow Daoist Lu, please descend to the underground for a talk. I have a favor to ask..."

The black-robed elder suddenly clasped his fists toward the surface, conveying his message upward, a hint of a plea in his demeanor...

"Fusang Old Demon? Could this senior be the Bamboo Hall’s Eighth Elder among the ’Eight Elders of the Bamboo Forest’ in the Eastern Tree Ocean?!"

Qingdai, with her strong spirit sense, naturally detected the commotion underground.

Upon hearing the black-robed elder’s words, she showed a few signs of astonishment.

The Eight Elders of the Bamboo Forest were eight highly esteemed Fragmented Void Elders residing in the Bamboo Hall of the Eastern Tree Ocean. Each had a most exalted status!

For someone of such standing to be so courteous to Ning Fan, and to immediately ask for a favor?

Qingdai was a little taken aback, never expecting Ning Fan to command such respect from a Void Fragmentation realm expert...

Ning Fan’s brow furrowed slightly. With a scan of his spirit sense at the black-robed elder underground, he seemed to understand something...

"Senior has a favor to ask? If it’s about that matter, I’m afraid I cannot be of any assistance..."

(To be continued...) (If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)