Grasping the Evil

Chapter 754: A Dance to Break the Formation

Seeing Ning Fan’s solemn expression, as if he had sensed the danger of the second level, Yao Qingyun raised an elegant eyebrow and explained,

"In this level of the secret underground palace, it’s not the dead spirits you need to be most wary of, but the alluring music they play. This sound, filled with desire, forms an invisible sound array. This array was called the ’Silk Bamboo Spirit Dispelling Formation’ in ancient times. The array possesses a formation spirit with Shedding Void Stage cultivation, even I can’t easily win against it in a direct confrontation; it mustn’t be underestimated."

"These dead spirits are created by spells and cannot be killed, nor can anyone stop them from playing flutes and zithers. If the flute and zither sound aren’t broken, this array can’t be broken. Once you force your way into this array, you’ll be attacked by the formation spirit. To break this array, you need to use sound to break the sound array. But I guess, even if you break the sound array, at most it just weakens the formation spirit, you won’t be able to completely remove it..."

At this point, Yao Qingyun frowned slightly.

"Break the sound array and the formation spirit won’t disappear? Why?" Ning Fan was slightly surprised.

Currently, his Dao of Formations cultivation is far inferior to Yao Qingyun’s, so it is reasonable for him to have doubts.

"I believe this secret underground palace itself is a grand array... The Golden Armor Spirit Immortal Formation on the first level is a Metal Attribute Great Formation. The Silk Bamboo Spirit Dispelling Formation on this level is a Wood Attribute Great Formation. The momentum of the first and second levels has a certain mysterious connection... If I’m not mistaken, this underground palace has at least five levels, and the first five levels are arranged according to the Five Elements, ultimately forming a deadly formation..."

"A deadly grand array, huh..." Ning Fan’s eyes flickered slightly. If such a Five Elements Grand Formation truly existed, and if he had enough time, he wouldn’t mind devouring all the Five Elements powers within the array.

Surely, it would greatly enhance the power of the Grand Five Elements Body.

"Do you want to play the zither or the flute?" Yao Qingyun suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?" Ning Fan was taken aback, then asked,

"Your cultivation is not enough to directly break the formation, so play music to assist me in breaking it. You play, and I’ll use your music to break the sound array. If you play the zither, I’ll break the array with zither music; if you play the flute, I’ll break it with flute sound."

"I’ll play the zither." Ning Fan suddenly recalled Xu Qiuling teaching him to play the zither, his expression full of reminiscence.

That expression felt very piercing and very... bothersome to Yao Qingyun!

The look of happiness on this guy’s face clearly showed he was thinking about a woman!

What bothered her most wasn’t that Ning Fan was thinking about a woman, but that ever since the pool of blood baptism, she found herself unconsciously emotionally influenced by his every word!

"Very well, I’ll lend you this zither, play your best piece!"

Yao Qingyun clapped her storage pouch, taking out a Jade Zither Dao Weapon made of cold wutong wood.

Unexpectedly, Yao Qingyun’s Dao Weapon was actually a jade zither!

Ning Fan sat cross-legged, placing the zither on his lap, only to find it extremely cold.

The coldness was utter sadness, was a dead heart, was unwillingness, was helplessness, was the loneliness of being forever isolated from the world...

This zither was Yao Qingyun’s Dao Weapon, all its divine intent, all its emotions, emanated from the depths of Yao Qingyun’s heart.

When she forged this Dao Weapon back then, Yao Qingyun carried emotions of utter despair, wanting to die.

How much sorrow is needed to craft such a zither...

Three feet six inches and six parts, every string and bridge exuded an aura of absolute despair.

Each of the seven strings bore bloodstains.

This zither was overwhelmingly sad.

"How do you find my Dao Weapon?" Yao Qingyun’s mood brightened considerably seeing Ning Fan so focused on observing the zither.

"A great Dao Weapon. This Dao Weapon is infused with emotion, I imagine its power is not weak." It’s just a pity this zither is overly sad.

Ning Fan certainly wouldn’t voice the latter part.

"You have a good eye, naturally the power of this zither can’t be weak. I once used this ’Cloud-Slicing Zither’ to annihilate an entire Lower-Level Star Domain with a single piece."

Hearing Ning Fan’s praise, Yao Qingyun nodded in satisfaction, then retrieved a jade scroll with an inscribed sheet of music.

"This score contains the technique for my strongest sound skill, you play this piece and I can employ my strongest divine skill to break the formation in one swoop!"

"Okay."

Ning Fan accepted the jade scroll, scanned it quickly, memorizing the sheet music. If Ning Fan’s cultivation was sufficient and he was proficient in sound skills, this piece could rival a Shekong Level Divine Ability, its power frightening.

To freely obtain a powerful immortal piece, it counts as a gain.

As he was about to return the jade scroll, Yao Qingyun dismissed it.

"Anything you’ve touched, I find filthy. Keep this jade scroll as a gift!"

Her speech remained a bit harsh, but Ning Fan vaguely understood that Yao Qingyun was bestowing him an opportunity by chance.

After thinking about it, he no longer declined and stored away the jade scroll.

His ten fingers moved over the zither strings, eyes closed, and he played a sorrowful zither tune softly and lingeringly.

At this moment, Ning Fan, dressed in white like snow, with his ink-black hair cascading like a waterfall, appeared serene like an immortal.

Though the zither tune was full of despair, played by him, it gradually turned mournful but not grievous.

To play with such an effect requires more than just superb zither skills.

A zither player requires a strong heart!

He must sweep away all grief from his heart, yet still retain all past sorrows, etched in his heart.

Only then can he be mournful but not grievous.

As Yao Qingyun listened to the piece, her phoenix-like eyes felt momentarily dazed, as if she recalled past sorrows together.

This piece, composed through all her life experiences, contained her Dao, as well as her sorrow and solitude.

She rarely used sound skills to kill, even though it was her strongest divine skill, because every time she used it, she would remember past events and feel heartache.

She thought hearing this piece again would cause her even more pain. Yet, as Ning Fan played it, instead of feeling heartache, she felt as if the knots in her heart were slowly being untangled.

Mournful but not grievous, mournful but not grievous...

A realization suddenly dawned on Yao Qingyun; she finally knew how to face her past.

Unresolved pasts need not be resolved. As long as there is no mourning in the heart, what harm can a sorrowful tune do...

As if in an instant, Yao Qingyun let go of all heartaches.

At that moment, she faintly touched the bottleneck of the Mid Stage of Shekong!

Upon reaching the Shedding Void Stage, simply relying on expensive pills, Dao Fruit, and incense is insufficient for advancing realms.

In the Shedding Void Stage, the key to cultivation lies in one ’shedding’ and one ’void’ in this realm.

At that moment, Yao Qingyun shed the grief in her heart while preserving the beautiful memories of the past.

Her Dao had become more complete!

After a long while, Yao Qingyun finally snapped back to reality. Ning Fan had long since finished playing and was looking at her curiously.

"Was it very pleasant? Were you entranced? Didn’t you say you wanted to break the formation?"

"Pleasant? What a joke! Your zither skills are at best slightly above average, far from enchanting me!" However, your zither Dao is something even I can’t reach. Mournful but not grievous, you easily achieve it, but I only realized it now.

Yao Qingyun definitely wouldn’t let Ning Fan know the latter half.

How could she do such a foolish thing as to praise Ning Fan?

"Keep playing, don’t stop, I need to listen a few more times to perfectly unleash my sound skill based on your melody." Yao Qingyun proclaimed seriously.

"...Fine." Ning Fan shook his head; he felt that Yao Qingyun listening to his zither playing wasn’t just for breaking the formation.

She had other motives...

Indeed, Yao Qingyun had her reasons; she wanted to keep listening to Ning Fan’s zither to completely sweep away the sorrow in her heart.

This way, once she returned to the Slaughter Hall, she would need only enter a long period of seclusion to break through to the Mid Stage of Shekong.

Such a superb opportunity for advancement, how could Yao Qingyun not seize it firmly?

So, Ning Fan played the zither piece repeatedly, and the elder listened to it time and time again.

Gradually, her frost-cold face became gentle, and finally, she smoothed her hair with a warm smile.

Since her disgraceful departure from the Yao Family, she smiled from the heart for the first time.

At this moment, she no longer bore any sorrow in her heart.

"Thank you." Yao Qingyun’s voice was soft, like the fleeting scent of wild ginger flowers in the wind.

"Thank you?" Ning Fan regarded Yao Qingyun with a peculiar expression. He had only played a few pieces of music, yet it made her willingly say thank you...

Ning Fan had self-awareness; he didn’t believe his zither skills were so profound as to move Yao Qingyun’s twisted heart.

"It’s nothing, let’s start breaking the formation!"

Yao Qingyun lowered her phoenix eyes, and suddenly, with light steps, she began to dance gracefully to Ning Fan’s zither piece.

Light blue skirts fluttered and unfolded with her dance, suddenly pivoting on her right foot, lightly waving her sleeves, her delicate body spinning along.

Her entire body stretched beautifully, like a green butterfly dancing gracefully.

Her hair moved with the wind, and the light blue ribbon tying her hair streamed in the wind.

There was no sorrow, no indifference, only tranquility after experiencing all the splendor, her slightly lowered eyes as calm as water, her dance increasingly ethereal like clouds.

Every smile and frown swayed the stars and clouds.

A faint elegant fragrance drifted into Ning Fan’s nose, so light yet indelible.

Ning Fan’s ten fingers played the zither, but his gaze remained fixed on Yao Qingyun, unable to look away.

There was no desire, just a thought that this dance was so beautiful, it was impossible to interrupt.

"Even the silliest of women have their talents," Ning Fan thought to himself.

If Yao Qingyun knew his thoughts, who knows if she’d be infuriated.

Yao Qingyun danced in time with Ning Fan’s melody, her steps light, and where she stepped, the music condensed into a formation.

She was truly breaking the formation, condensing music with her dance, breaking the sound formation with sound.

The sound formation underfoot gradually took shape, dividing the grand momentum of the second level of the underground palace into two.

Half was seized by the sound formation controlled by dead spirits, the other half by Yao Qingyun.

The power of a formation lies in its momentum, without which there can be no formation; controlling half of it is enough for Yao Qingyun to break it!

Suddenly she opened her eyes, her gaze as cold as water, and with a flick of her finger, a streak of azure light shot from her finger, spiraling around the music Ning Fan played, striking a certain place in the sky.

In an instant, the zither music spread like waves, reaching every corner of the second level of the underground palace.

The music played by the dead spirits was thus thrown out of rhythm!

Rhythm was a major key to mastering the sound formation!

Once the rhythm was disrupted, the sound momentum naturally went awry!

"Disrupt the Six Desires Immortal Sound, and die!"

One by one, dead spirits erupted in fury, rushing towards Yao Qingyun and Ning Fan with killing intent like clouds.

Yao Qingyun merely sneered disdainfully, instructing Ning Fan, "You play, I’ll kill!"

She continued her dance without care, but with each step she took, a dead spirit was extinguished by the grand momentum!

These dead spirits were formed by spells, born of momentum, and couldn’t be destroyed by divine skills or spells.

Only by breaking momentum with momentum was there a chance to annihilate them!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The dead spirits fell one after another under Yao Qingyun’s dance steps, and after finishing one dance, all the dead spirits here had been wiped out. Finally, an extraordinarily powerful aura gradually gathered on the second level of the underground palace.

In the sky above, a three-headed giant suddenly appeared, clad in a blue devil armor, with demonic Qi swirling around it!

At the sight of this three-headed giant, Ning Fan’s fingers did not stop, his expression unchanged, but internally he was greatly alarmed.

It was only because this three-headed giant was unexpectedly the corpse of an Ancient Demon!

This Ancient Demon corpse was left here, existing as the spirit of the formation.

This corpse was controlled by the sound formation; if Yao Qingyun wished to break the sound formation, he would have to kill Yao Qingyun!

He was once an Ancient Demon comparable to the Initiate Realm of Shekong, capable of annihilating Shekong Initiate Masters during his lifetime.

Now that he was dead, only his physical defense was strong, no longer able to wield any Ancient Demon divine skills. Eight or nine of the sound formation parts had been broken by Yao Qingyun, his strength weakened, his actions sluggish, making it difficult to exploit his physical defense despite its strength.

"So it’s an Ancient Demon! Unfortunately, just an Ancient Demon corpse, of no use. If it were a living Ancient Demon, bringing it back would be of great use, maybe even unraveling the secret of the ’blood’ of the Moro the Great Emperor. Such a pity..."

Yao Qingyun tapped her toes, floated up, and with a delicate hand gesture, the Cloud-Slicing Zither, originally resting on Ning Fan’s knee, immediately returned to her hand.

This was her Dao Weapon, which she could summon back as she wished.

"Break!"

Yao Qingyun held the zither with one hand, and with a flowing motion, plucked the zither strings with the other, instantly causing a wave-like clear ripple to spread out.

The water wave was formed by zither music!

Wherever the zither music passed, mountains crumbled to dust!

And the murderous Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor suddenly had empty eyes, the corpse crashed to the ground with a boom.

The sound formation was broken!

If she confronted the Ancient Demon head-on, Yao Qingyun had at most a fifty percent chance of winning, and even if she won, she would inevitably be severely injured.

Now, with her dancing and Ning Fan playing the zither, they cleverly broke the sound formation and defeated the Ancient Demon.

A stroke of luck, a stroke of luck...

"This Ancient Demon is not a living being, just a dead body, and it’s been dead for many years, the essence of its flesh and blood has long been depleted, it’s useless, better to destroy it."

Having said that, Yao Qingyun plucked the zither strings, intending to destroy the corpse.

Ning Fan’s eyes changed, his figure flickered, and he stood in front of Yao Qingyun, hastily saying, "This corpse might be useful to me!"

It’s just a possibility.

Ning Fan was not yet aware of the subsequent cultivation methods of the Ancient Demon, not knowing if he could find any useful information from this demon corpse.

"You need this corpse?" Yao Qingyun was taken aback, then looked at Ning Fan with great interest.

"Yes!"

"If you want it, beg me for it!"

"..."

Yao Qingyun proudly tilted her fair neck, her expression full of smugness, leaving Ning Fan speechless.

Couldn’t this Yao Qingyun be any more childish...

"If you don’t beg me, I will destroy this Ancient Demon corpse..."

"..."

Ning Fan shook his head helplessly; he wouldn’t beg Yao Qingyun for one Ancient Demon corpse.

This Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor corpse was indeed useless, its essence long depleted, unfit for refining puppets or pills, it had no use at all.

The only use was to research it, and the one most likely to uncover something was probably Ning Fan, the Ancestral Blood Ancient Demon.

Ning Fan wanted to look into this Ancient Demon corpse for information on continuing to advance to the next steps in cultivating the Ancient Demon realms.

But he wasn’t confident that he would actually discover anything from this Ancient Demon corpse.

He wouldn’t beg Yao Qingyun for the sake of an uncertain factor.

Besides, if Ning Fan truly wanted to understand the next stage of Ancient Demon cultivation, he didn’t necessarily need to study this Ancient Demon corpse.

Within the Four Heavens, there were no true Ancient Demons, but there were Pseudo-Ancient Demons.

Many Body Refinement Immortal Gates possessed the technique of training with remnant symbols.

The so-called remnant symbols were imitations of the Symbols of Devil Raising used as a medium for refining essence.

Among these Body Refinement Immortal Gates, many knew the cultivation methods of the Moro the Great Emperor.

They just didn’t know the method for condensing the Symbols of Devil Raising, thus could never become true Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor.

Since Yao Qingyun wouldn’t give up this corpse, Ning Fan wouldn’t ask; he’d find a way to research the Ancient Demon realms later.

"Let’s go to the third level."

Ning Fan shook his head and flew towards the third level of the underground palace.

Yao Qingyun was stunned. She clearly saw that Ning Fan wanted this Ancient Demon corpse, so why did he not want it anymore?

Was it just because he didn’t want to beg her? Would begging her kill him?!

With a graceful stroke of her hand over the Jade Zither, Yao Qingyun was about to destroy the corpse.

But just before the sound attack was about to release, she hesitated.

With a bite of her silver teeth, Yao Qingyun reluctantly put away the Cloud-Slicing Zither and, with a flick of her sleeve, collected the enormous Ancient Demon corpse into a storage pouch, then swiftly caught up with Ning Fan.

"Take it, it’s a gift from me!"

"...Thank you, Qingyun Elder, for your gift."

"Hmm."

Seeing that Ning Fan accepted the Ancient Demon corpse, Yao Qingyun smiled with satisfaction, grabbing Ning Fan again to fly towards the third level.

The third level of the underground palace was an Ice World!

Here, there was indeed a Water Attribute Great Formation!

The first layer was of metal, the second of wood, the third of water!

In this layer, a giant ice dragon formation had been set up, with thousands of Mid Stage of Shekong’s ice dragons swirling in the air!

"This number is a bit too much..." Yao Qingyun furrowed her delicate brows, then Ning Fan thought for a moment and handed a treasure to Yao Qingyun, temporarily lending it to her.

"The Dragon Suppression Treasure!" As Yao Qingyun held the Taigong Fishing Rod, she looked at Ning Fan in disbelief.

How did he have the Dragon Suppression Treasure?

(3/3) (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to vote for it on Qidian with recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read on m.qidian.com.)