Grasping Evil

It was the last night in Seven Apricot.

Ning Fan and Zhihe lied down on a rattan chair under a grape vine, and enjoying  the moonlight above the skies.

Ning Fan would leave tomorrow and he did not want to bring Zhihe along.

“Why don’t you bring me along? Is it because I am weak and unworthy to be with you?” Zhihe gently put her head towards Ning Fan’s shoulder.

“No… because I am too weak, I fear that I do not have the power to protect you…” Ning Fan remorsefully said.

“Brother Fan, you are not weak. Compared to everyone I’ve seen, you are the strongest…” Little Zhihe comforted him with her silky smooth hand, covering his mouth gently.

Both of them no longer said a word and leaned their heads together while looking at the moon.

Zhihe was not suitable to cultivate the Dao, even though she had the Innate Bewitching Bone that gave her an extremely fast cultivation speed. However, just talent alone was insufficient to survive in the world of cultivation… A lot of devils may not have talents, but they were able to slowly move up with their cruel and cunning nature. Zhihe would be in danger even if she were to face cultivators that had weaker cultivation due to her pure nature.

She would still be not suitable to cultivate Dao, even if she were to experience a massive leap in cultivation in the future and become an Immortal.

In fact, Ning Fan could bring Zhihe along in this bloody sea and develop a cruel nature within her, but he was unwilling…

For him, he knew that Ning Gu was unwilling to kill, so he gave Ning Hu a simple life.

Also, he knew that Zhihe was also unwilling to see bloodshed, therefore, he would definitely promise Zhihe a safe and pleasant path of Dao cultivation.

It was not Zhihe’s fault, it was just the wrong era to have Zhihe. There were many treasure refining cultivators in the most ancient past. During that time, the immortal world was rumoured to be at peace. There weren’t any battles and bloodshed. Zhihe should’ve belonged to that era, living a life of immortal romance and leaving a story that should forever be told…

Yue country was just a low-ranked cultivation country without a Nascent Soul expert… Ning Fan was not considered to be a Nascent Soul cultivator while Jing Zhuo could only be considered as a half Nascent Soul.

But the Nascent Soul old monsters in the stronger intermediate-ranked cultivation countries were analogous to the Gold Core old monsters in Yue Country. Although there weren’t many of them, they weren’t hard to find.

There are even Spirit Severing old monsters in high-ranked cultivation country. The Endless Sea that Ning Fan was going was a place where even cultivators from high-ranked cultivation country have to be extremely careful the moment they entered that place.

The Endless Sea was also dubbed as the Grave of cultivation! The grave for cultivators! Nobody would ask if someone was murdered; even the Rain Palace could not meddle within it… It didn’t matter that if a cultivator was from righteous path or devil sect. What mattered the most was the strength of the cultivator. That place has its own law of survival. If Ning Fan were to travel alone and he encountered any dangers, he could escape and get away safely. However, if he were to bring along Zhihe and something went wrong, he would certainly regret it his whole life.

Zhihe was the first girl to walk into his heart. That mantou and jade lock which she gave to him had saved his life, giving him a different life.

Ning Fan closed his eyes slightly under the moonlight. His nose had the lingering fragrance of Zhihe…

The scenes of their meeting in All Pleasure Sect appeared in front of his eyes.

Zhihe was only an ordinary girl and she longed for an ordinary life. She didn’t love battles and her thought was pure. She did not have a specialized skill, but she was the one who understood Ning Fan the most amongst all the ladies.

She understood the gentleness of Ning Fan and his helplessness. She knew that Ning Fan was the same as her, and he actually did not love to fight…

Ning Fan had the same longing for a plain life as Zhihe deep within his heart. But fate made him meet the Old Devil and he was forced to walk on the path of devil cultivation that had no return.

After meeting Zhihe and the Old Devil, half of Zhihe’s personality and half of the Old Devil’s personality constituted the present Ning Fan’s personality!

“That… Brother Fan…” Zhihe’s eyes opened wide as if there was something she wanted to say.

“Yes?”

“Could you bring me a Bell Orchid when you’re back from the Endless Sea?” Zhihe requested.

“Bell Orchid? Doesn’t Yue Country have such an orchid?” asked Ning Fan surprisingly.

“It’s different… It is said that the orchid in the Endless Sea could let out a sound of a wind chime when the wind blows, extremely pleasant to hear… I will know that you’re back when I hear that sound…” Zhihe said sillily and fell asleep in the arms of Ning Fan.

Ning Fan silently etched into his mind the silly girl’s wish.

Bell Orchid was just an ordinary mortal plant in the Endless Sea… Zhihe’s wish was simple, simple enough to be taken a pity.

Zhihe could not go to the Endless Sea because of the endless dangers the place possessed. That was the origin of the name “Endless”.

As for the Ning City, it was Ning Fan’s home. He needed someone to look forward to the moment he returned home.

This trip to the Endless Sea might require ten years, or maybe decades or even a hundred years.

The wait maybe tormenting, yet this was the life of a cultivator. As for those Dao companions, the wife might not be able to see her husband for tens of years if the husband were to go into seclusion.

Cultivators had their own helplessness, even True Immortals could hardly be free and unfettered.

“A bell orchid… I shall bear it in mind.”

“…”

A dazzling ship was soon to set sail outside Seven Apricot city.

Under the ship, there was Old Ancestor Jing Zhuo and Ning Fan saying their goodbyes to their relatives, friends and cultivators of Yue Country.

Most of the cultivators were from the Fire Cloud and Sinister Sparrow Sect. People from other sects came to watch, but were not as enthusiastic as the two sects.

Nan Gong, Si Tu, Wei Chi, the four clans of Seven Apricot and the Four Armies of Ning City.

Gui Qiaozi, Xue Qing, Nan Wei, even Yan Zuiyun who once had a disagreement with Ning Fan, Bai Feiteng and Yan Bai who also had quite an animosity.

Only a few exchange of conventional greetings and exhorts was enough for these people.

However, the goodbyes with the girls like Lan Mei made Ning Fan slightly reluctant.

“Ning Fan, take these immortal jades with you… I requested it from father…” Lan Mei gave him a storage pouch that was filled to the brim with hidden bitterness.

Ning Fan’s divine sense swept through it and was instantly surprised… Thirty thousand immortal jades, this could be Gui Qiaozi’s entire asset. Lan Mei must have dug deep and searched the entire sect to get this amount.

“To cultivate within the Lost World Tower in the Endless Sea, it is not overrated to describe it as overly expensive… Do not be reluctant in spending when you’re away from home…” Lan Mei said. She was slightly bitter when Ning Fan decided not to bring her along, but she was also extremely worried about his safety.

Of course, she was also slightly worried of his playboy nature. Would he philander out there…

Lan Mei and Ning Fan had a marriage agreement. It was not a secret to the cultivators of Yue Country.

The farewell gift was already thirty thousand immortal jades… Even Jing Zhuo and the other old ancestors couldn’t help but envy Ning Fan’s luck in the opposite sex. It would be extremely difficult to find a 2nd wife in Yue Country that would give her husband thirty thousand immortal jades as allowance…

Bai Lu also came, but she did not speak a word to Ning Fan. She only saw him off from afar.

When Ning Fan saw her negligible figure within the crowd, he smiled towards her. Bai Lu’s eyebrows trembled immediately and turned her back. It was hard to identify her expression clearly.

“Be careful… on the journey…” She said in a message transmission.

“You too should cultivate diligently, maybe then you will have the chance to kill me the moment I return,” Ning Fan teasingly said.

“Hmmph! You think I couldn’t do it?! You just wait and see, my cultivation base will surely improve tremendously by the time you return and I will surely surprise you!” Bai Lu resentfully said.

“Very well, I shall wait.”

“…”

After the series of farewells was done, Ning Fan and Jing Zhou received quite a number of generous gifts from numerous old monsters before  boarding the ship which was set to sail towards the north.

There were twenty pretty females that were given by the Corpse Seizing Sect Old Ancestor to Ning Fan as servants on the ship. It was originally given to Ning Fan as cauldrons. However, Ning Fan could not harm these Yue Country female cultivators even if he did not have enough cauldrons. Furthermore, these pretty cauldrons’ cultivation bases erre just between fourth to fifth level Vein Opening. The effect of plucking was only average…

It would be better for them to do servant work as the expression of Lan Mei and the other girls did not seem to be nice…

Also, Ning Fan recognized an acquaintance within the female servants, but have yet to expose her.

These female servants were tasked to do menial jobs like serving tea and drinks. Ning Fan did not order them to sleep with him, which made the girls silently sigh in relief.

Other than that, Ning Fan executed an unknown technique and magically conjured Bing Ling, Yue Ling, and the other fifteen female cultivators out of the air.

These female cultivators voluntarily proposed to sleep with Ning Fan, except for the two Gold Cores amongst them. As for whether Ning Fan had accepted their proposals or not, the servants didn’t know…

The ship had flown for several days and had reached the boundary of the north of Yue Country. At this moment, only then did Ning Fan gather the servants and spoke towards a particular servant,

“Suqiu Xian Zi left without a word the other day, I thought that I would never be able to meet Xian Zi forever. But surprisingly, the esteemed Suqiu Xian Zi came aboard my ship under the recommendation of the Corpse Seizing Sect’s old ancestor and became a servant…”

The acquaintance who Ning Fan immediately recognized was Suqiu Xian Zi. She had unexpectedly boarded the ship.

Suqiu immediately undid her disguise after her cover was blown and gently smiled.

“I have made a fool of myself, Revered Ning. Now that I don’t belong to any sect nor faction, I would like to rely on a friend’s sect in the Endless Sea… However, my immortal jades had been left at the Supreme Void Sect and I am now penniless. It would be hard for me to reach the Endless Sea with just my strength, hence I have come to rely on Revered Ning… What’s wrong? Could it be that you won’t allow me to accompany you? ”

“Not really, I just felt a bit flattered… Since Suqiu Xian Zi had already boarded my ‘pirate’ ship, it will not be easy to get off it,” Ning Fan smilingly said.

“Pirate ship…”

Suqiu who had a stern face laughed after hearing Ning Fan’s joke. Is there someone in this world who proclaimed themselves as a pirate?

But when she thought about what Ning Fan said having a different meaning, it made her remember the ‘spicy’ detoxification process. Her heart trembled slightly, and she immediately turned her head around.

“I am not the Old Ancestor of Supreme Void Sect anymore, and I’m no longer Suqiu Xian Zi. From today onwards, you can call me Fellow Daoist Yin…” Suqiu slightly sighed as if she had just recalled a bad memory. However, that gloominess was immediately swept away by Ning Fan’s teasing.

“Isn’t it good to call you Suqiu?”

“NO! It’s not good!”

“Alright, you win… Fellow Daoist Yin, since you’ve boarded my ship. I’ll bring you to the Endless Sea. Now, why don’t we calculate the fees that are needed for this whole trip…” Ning Fan pretended to be serious.

“Ah? I have to pay to board your ship…?” Daoist Yin panicked slightly. She righteously left all the immortal jades to her sect. How could she still have the money to pay Ning Fan?

“Rumour has it that Suqiu Xian Zi plays the flute well. Plus, when you play it with your mystical technique, it could even cleanse the Heart’s Devil of a cultivator… If Xian Zi has a heart to occasionally play a song for me, the fees for the journey will be considered paid…”

“It’s not a difficult matter if you want to listen to me play the flute. Besides, it is even better for me to pay through playing.” Suqiu slightly let out a sigh of relief, she was really scared that Ning Fan would demand payment from her.

Within the Yue country, it was right to say that she does not have anyone to rely on anymore. She had once followed her master to the Endless Sea when she was still a child, and had befriended a female cultivator there. That person’s talent was extraordinary and was on-par with her. It was rumored that that person had become a sect master…

The heartlessness of the Great Void Sect made her unwilling to stay in Yue Country anymore. She didn’t mind departing to the Endless Sea.

As a matter of fact, Suqiu compared Ning Fan and the others. In her mind, even though Ning Fan was a devil cultivator and Suqiu did not like his ruthless way of doing things, he was more kind compared to her two senior brothers.

The journey towards the Endless Sea would have to go through Jin Country’s ancient teleportation formation and the Ocean Country’s Escaping Heavenly ship. It required an extremely expensive amount of immortal jade, and this would all be paid by Ning Fan. She secretly felt grateful, and the matter of playing the flute became insignificant.

Suqiu did not know that the reason Ning Fan asked for payment was to give her a peace of mind.

This girl had an extremely stubborn nature and would definitely not accept others’ kindness for free. Otherwise, she would not have disguised herself as a servant to hide in the Seven Apricot ship.

If she played the flute to compensate her expenses, this girl would then be at ease without owing Ning Fan any favor.

Ning Fan would have to spend another ten plus thousand immortal jades as payment with this girl onboard. But compared to what she had done for Ning City, immortal jade was not worth mentioning.

This girl had shattered her water ring while protecting Ning City. With her onboard the ship, Ning Fan was willing to refine a new treasure as repayment for her sacrifices.

“This girl excels in ring treasures… In the memories of Ancient Chaos, there was an extremely powerful Immortal Ring Treasure named ‘Heaven and Earth Ring but I could not refine this treasure. I could only imitate parts of it and refine a Magical Treasure of higher quality compared to the water ring and give it to her…” Ning Fan said it in his heart.

With this, the experts that were on-board the Seven Apricot ship were Ning Fan, Jing Zhuo and Suqiu.

Ning Fan told Jing Zhuo the reason why Suqiu came aboard, but Jing Zhuo did not believe it at all.

His gaze towards Ning Fan had a shred of admiration, that admiration came from Ning Fan’s ability in stealing Suqiu’s heart. Ning Fan was really talented, if not why didn’t Suqiu board another expert’s ship, but chose to board Ning Fan’s pirate ship instead?

It was a big misunderstanding. But Jing Zhuo did not ask and Ning Fan didn’t explain.

The journey towards the border of north Yue country was considered to be calm. Except for occasional cultivators that boarded the ship to send their farewells, each of them continued on their own activity.

Jing Zhuo and lady Yun Hua were like a divine immortal couple, playing chess and planting flowers comfortably.

Whereas Ning Fan and Suqiu cultivated individually, but Ning Fan would stand at the bow of the ship during sunset everyday. Suqiu would stand behind him and play the flute, the sound of the flute seemed to be able to cleanse the Heart Devil of Ning Fan…

This lifestyle had continued for half a month, and the ship finally arrived at North Yue’s boundary which enabled them to leave Yue Country and enter Song Country.

The movement of the Seven Apricot ship was average. Since they did not have much cultivators on board the ship, it shouldn’t project any hostile intent for Song Country.

But once the ship passed through the border of Song Country, it immediately caused the country’s south border cultivators to display extreme alertness.

There were even three late Gold Core old monsters that had immediately rushed towards the boundary after receiving the alarm from the border cultivators to block the Seven Apricot ship.

“Who are you! Are you in league with the ‘Red Flower Old Demon’?!”

These three late Gold Core old monsters were Righteous Path cultivators. They sensed the unusual devil qi of the Seven Apricot ship and immediately revealed their hostility.

The hemp garment old man was bristling with anger that he practically wanted to attack the ship immediately.

“Do not blame this old man for destroying this ship if the ship’s owner does not come out to meet me within ten breaths!” The hemp garment old man’s red eyes were filled with hatred.

This matter had made Ning Fan, Jing Zhuo and Suqiu extremely surprised.

It seems like Song Country is in a sensitive period… Otherwise, it would be impossible to have three late Gold Core old monsters come out and inspect their ship from afar just by passing through the border…

“Fellow Daoists, do slightly have a rest and do not make an appearance. To avoid making these ‘frightened birds’ much more anxious… Bing Ling, Yue Ling, accompany me to check what these three old man wants.”

Ning Fan smilingly said and leisurely brought Bing Ling and Yue Ling out of the ship.

“I am the master of this ship, is there any reason for fellow  Daoists to block my ship? I do not have a speck of relation with this ‘Red Flower Old Demon’ that you spoke of…”

Ning Fan was just a Harmonious Spirit cultivator, but there were two female Gold Core guards standing behind him. Those two girls were clearly lead by Ning Fan.

This had slightly surprised the three Gold Core old monsters.

“This ship’s master is just a Harmonious Spirit junior? But what background does this junior have to have two Gold Core women work as servants… ”