Grasping Evil

When Qian Shou and Mu Chi saw Ning Fan chasing after them, they exchanged glances. With gritted teeth, they fled in opposite directions—one east, one west.

They knew they were no match for Ning Fan. If he caught up, death was certain.

At this moment they could only gamble on luck and see whom Ning Fan pursued. Whoever he chased would die; that one could only blame a wretched fate.

"Fleeing separately, huh..."

Ning Fan unsealed his sword pouch. Five rays of sword light flew out at once and became five agile little sword spirits.

His opponents were Absolute Void cultivators. If they fled by separate paths, Ning Fan could at most chase one; the other would be beyond his reach.

"All of you, chase the winged one. I will go after the eight-armed one!"

After that faint command, he stepped onto an ancient golden sword and shot after Qian Shou.

The five sword spirits pursed their lips. They were reluctant to serve as Ning Fan's enforcers.

Yet the five little girls were marked with the Sword Seal of Life and Death and could not defy his order. After a few discontented snorts, they obediently turned into five rays of sword light and raced after Mu Chi.

Mu Chi was not a sword cultivator, but even setting aside their natural restraint against sword cultivators, the five little girls' own strength was already heaven-defying. Each was comparable to an Absolute Void expert.

Five Absolute Void little girls hunting one Absolute Void expert would not be difficult.

Qian Shou had already withdrawn from his Thousand-Handed Giant Dharma Form and become an eight-armed old man. After parting from Mu Chi, he fled for his life.

Sensing the golden sword light behind him drawing steadily closer, Qian Shou nearly died of fright.

"Why! Why does this calamity chase this old man instead of Mu Chi!"

Elsewhere, Mu Chi likewise withdrew from his giant Dharma Form and became a winged old man.

When he sensed that Ning Fan was chasing Qian Shou, he let out a long breath of relief, thinking he had escaped disaster.

He never expected that although Ning Fan was not hunting him, five rays of sword light would pursue him relentlessly.

He looked back at those five sword lights and his face drained of color at once.

"Th-these are sword spirits! Immortal sword spirits! Each one is comparable to an Absolute Void cultivator—this old man is being hunted by five Absolute Void experts!"

Mu Chi's heart shook. He had been caught in the Sun Moon Monument's attack and was not lightly wounded. If he faced five Absolute Void sword spirits alone now, he would certainly die!

The five sword spirits' escape lights were extremely fast. In little more than ten breaths, they caught up to Mu Chi.

Gritting his teeth, Mu Chi stroked the thumb-ring magic treasure on his finger.

It was a damaged Small Thousand World Treasure, bought at an auction for five billion immortal jade.

Though damaged, the treasure could still be used once more, opening a Small Thousand World Remnant Realm a single time.

Once opened, Mu Chi would hide inside the remnant realm; the realm treasure would then be destroyed, the exit forever sealed, and he would never again be able to leave!

At this moment Mu Chi had only two choices!

One was to fight the five Absolute Void sword spirits and be killed by them.

The other was to open the Small Thousand World Remnant Realm, hide within it, and never leave for the rest of his life—yet survive this calamity.

Feeling the five sword spirits' unstoppable aura, Mu Chi clenched his jaw, steeled himself, and opened the Small Thousand World Remnant Realm!

"Even if I am trapped in the remnant realm for life, it is far better than dying to these five sword spirits! Once this old man enters, even a Void Fragmentation cultivator will not easily get in to kill me!"

Chi!

A ray of light burst from the thumb ring. Mu Chi's form flickered, plunged into the remnant realm, and vanished from the spot.

"Eh, eh, eh—he got away! Where did he go!" The third sword spirit, Shui Shui, looked astonished.

"He hid in a magic treasure space... Hmph. Only a Small Thousand World Remnant Realm—so weak!" The second sword spirit, Mo Mo, flashed gold in her large eyes, as if piercing the remnant realm and seeing Mu Chi inside.

"Hua Hua, open the sword gate. We will charge in and let him know Big Sisters' might!" The first sword spirit, Jing Jing, commanded.

"Tong Tong, I will set the formation; you open the gate!" The fourth sword spirit, Hua Hua, finished speaking, formed seals with her little hands, and a huge sword diagram—a sword formation—appeared in the sky.

"A-a-all right!" The fifth sword spirit, Tong Tong, nodded. Standing upon the sword diagram, she flickered and transformed into an earthen-yellow light gate.

"We go in!"

The other four sword spirits entered the light gate and appeared directly inside the Small Thousand World Remnant Realm, nearly frightening Mu Chi to death.

Mu Chi had never imagined that the five sword spirits hunting him would possess such divine abilities that they could enter another's Small Thousand World Remnant Realm outright!

Even Void Fragmentation cultivators might not necessarily manage such a thing!

"Ah!"

Moments later, a miserable scream echoed long through the remnant realm—Mu Chi's voice.

On the other side.

Stepping on golden sword light, Ning Fan caught up to Qian Shou in little more than ten breaths.

Qian Shou's face filled with dread. Knowing escape was hopeless, he halted his escape light and stopped fleeing.

He drew a deep breath and looked back at Ning Fan. Ning Fan likewise stopped his escape light and regarded Qian Shou at leisure.

"If you do not kill this old man, I am willing to gift you my life's fortune!" Qian Shou untied the storage bag at his waist, pleading in his eyes.

"If you die, your things will naturally be mine." Ning Fan spoke without mercy.

"Do not push me! Push me further and I will stake my life to perish with you! Lu Bei, leave others a way out—do not press a man too hard!"

Qian Shou's face twisted with ferocity. Ning Fan said nothing more. He raised a hand, summoned the Sun Moon Monument, and brought it down upon Qian Shou.

"One Spirit Monument Technique, Sun Sinks Moon Falls!"

The monument's shadow split into ten, then a hundred, and in an instant became fifty enormous blazing suns and cold moons, crashing down like a meteor shower!

Looking at the countless suns and moons smashing from overhead, Qian Shou knew death was inescapable.

He glared at Ning Fan with hatred, his eyes gradually going mad.

"You forced me to this!"

Qian Shou's eight arms formed seals at once. Boundless wood-element magical power poured from his body. His aura grew stronger and stronger, climbing from Absolute Void toward Return to Origin Absolute Void, yet his body withered more and more; flesh and blood vanished at terrifying speed—extremely bizarre!

He was using his life to unleash a final art, intending to perish together with Ning Fan.

Deep cyan wooden leaves whirled before him and gradually condensed into a gigantic wooden statue of a Thousand-Handed Arhat.

Each of that Thousand-Handed Arhat's thousand arms held a one-star Immemorial Divine Weapon!

Chanting Buddhist verses, golden light blazed around him, and countless Sanskrit tones rose on every side.

As Qian Shou's seals changed, the Thousand-Handed Arhat at once hurled a thousand Immemorial Divine Weapons toward the suns and moons evolved from the Sun Moon Monument.

"Art of the Thousand-Handed Arhat!" Qian Shou's expression was crazed. This was his strongest technique. Once used, he was certain to die—yet its power rivaled a Void Fragmentation strike. Even a Return to Origin Absolute Void expert struck by it would be dead or grievously wounded!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A hundred falling giant suns and moons collided with a thousand Immemorial Divine Weapons. Waves of annihilation swept outward.

For hundreds of thousands of li around, the Tree Ocean of towering ancient trees was engulfed. As the waves spread, every ancient tree turned to flying ash and vanished. Countless chasms split the earth; magma surged. Above, space shattered in countless places, revealing the dark void beneath.

One after another, the divine weapon phantoms shattered; one after another, the giant suns and moons exploded.

Ning Fan watched the clash of treasures in silence. Gradually, the opponent's Immemorial Divine Weapons were all destroyed, while dozens of suns and moons evolved from the Sun Moon Monument still remained, undiminished, smashing toward the dying Qian Shou.

This clash of treasures, Ning Fan had won.

Qian Shou unwillingly lifted his head toward the giant suns and moons crashing down. He had not a scrap of magical power left for escape.

He had used his strongest secret art and was certain to die. His greatest regret was failing to drag Ning Fan down with him.

And what he regretted most was why he had ever hunted Ning Fan and invited this killing disaster...

"Lu Bei! Do not celebrate too soon! Those hunting you in the Northern Tree Ocean are not only we four—there are nine more experts! Among them three are Void Fragmentation, six are Return to Origin Absolute Void! If you run into their hands, you will certainly die!"

Boom!

Qian Shou's unwilling roar was drowned in the attack of Sun Sinks Moon Falls and could no longer be heard clearly.

The spell fluctuations gradually faded. Ruins spread on every side—a wilderness of barren hills and lonely peaks.

Ning Fan raised a hand and drew the Sun Moon Monument into the Profound Yin World. From the ruins he took Qian Shou's damaged storage bag, and from among the wreckage he accurately found Qian Shou's half-dead Nascent Soul, then used a soul-searching art.

Afterward he swallowed the remnant soul into his belly, his gaze filled with baleful qi that would not fade.

His whole body also radiated dense baleful qi. Having slain three Absolute Void cultivators in succession, the karmic weight of killing was naturally extreme.

As for the fourth Absolute Void expert, he was likely hard-pressed to survive. Before long, the five little sword spirits would return.

He stepped onto the ancient sword and turned back along the road.

His gaze swept lightly over the storage bags of Tree Crown, Vine Armor, Qian Shou, and the other Absolute Void cultivators, and understanding dawned.

No wonder that even when he hid in so secluded a tree mountain, the Vine Sovereign's subordinates had still found him.

From Qian Shou's memories he learned that every Absolute Void cultivator who had come on this pursuit carried a bronze-mirror magic treasure.

The treasure's grade was not high, yet it had a special use.

Among the Vine Sovereign's subordinates in the Western Tree Ocean, anyone of certain standing would be granted a "Vine Seed" by the Vine Sovereign.

Once planted in the body, that seed was extremely hard to erase, and the Vine Sovereign could know the location of any subordinate who bore it at any time.

If a cultivator bearing a Vine Seed was killed, the seed would transfer into the killer's body, allowing the Vine Sovereign and his followers to learn the killer's whereabouts with ease.

Ning Fan looked inward and searched his body carefully.

In that search he truly found several dozen Vine Seeds within himself—that was why his location had been exposed.

Those so-called Vine Seeds were magical power seeds condensed by the Vine Sovereign, extremely tiny; dozens of them together were smaller than a speck of dust.

"These Vine Seeds are so minute that even I, if inattentive, would hardly notice them... In the future, if I kill people of the Vine Sovereign, I must clear the Vine Seeds from my body."

Ning Fan urged black fire and burned away every Vine Seed. Thus the Vine Sovereign's subordinates would no longer easily find his whereabouts.

In the distance, the five sword spirits carried a heavy storage bag and flew slowly toward Ning Fan.

Though they had completed the task he assigned, they were still somewhat unwilling to be ordered about.

Each puffed up her little face, as if serving as Ning Fan's sword spirits were a great humiliation.

"Hmph! Detestable Little Fan Fan! Big Sisters have gloriously finished the mission—may we rest now!"

Ning Fan heard them and smiled despite himself. When Lu Yu had taken these sword spirits in, they had called him Little Yu Yu.

Now that it was him, he had become "Little Fan Fan"...

Little Fan Fan it was, then. Ning Fan could not be bothered to quibble with five little girls over so small a matter.

He took Mu Chi's storage bag and drew the five sword spirits into the sword pouch. Patting his storage bag, he took out a jade slip map of the Northern Tree Ocean. After sweeping it with divine sense, he fell into thought.

A moment later he put away the jade slip, stepped onto the ancient golden sword, and fled southeast.

He had no wish to linger long in the Northern Tree Ocean. Better to go to the Eastern Tree Ocean to gather Tree Spirit Fruits, and along the way seek materials to repair his puppets.

Now that the Vine Seeds in his body were destroyed, heaven was vast and earth was wide—finding Ning Fan again would be hard for the Vine Sovereign's subordinates.

Especially once he entered the Eastern Tree Ocean, that was the Bamboo Sovereign's territory; the Vine Sovereign's reach could not stretch so far...

"Vine Sovereign—so what!"

Ning Fan's gaze was calm. Though he was no match for the Vine Sovereign, with his present strength he could roam the Tree World and still have more than enough to protect himself!

In the Northern Tree Ocean, nine old monsters were driving escape lights, racing hard toward Ning Fan's former location.

Among the nine were demon cultivators, devil cultivators, and of course humans. Each held a bronze-mirror magic treasure.

Among the nine, three were Void Fragmentation, six Return to Origin Absolute Void. Wherever their escape lights passed, cultivation cities of the Northern Tree Ocean fell silent in dread.

In a certain instant, the nine suddenly all showed shock, halted their escape lights, and landed atop a tree mountain.

"That Lu Bei's traces... have vanished! Could he have discovered the Vine Seeds in his body and destroyed them all?" A Return to Origin Absolute Void expert in purple robes said coldly.

"Without Vine Seeds, we cannot track his whereabouts. The Vine Sovereign ordered us to hunt him. Now that we have lost him, how are we to pursue? If the Vine Sovereign learns we handled this poorly, he will surely be furious..." A Return to Origin Absolute Void expert in black robes said anxiously.

"Bad! The life tablets of Vine Armor, Qian Shou, and the other four Absolute Void experts have all shattered!" A Return to Origin Absolute Void expert dressed as a Daoist suddenly patted his storage bag, took out four cracked life tablets, and looked stunned.

Hearing that, the other five Return to Origin Absolute Void experts all showed horror.

Even the three First Heavenly Layer Void Fragmentation elders were moved.

The four Absolute Void old monsters who had pursued Ning Fan were all dead!

Though those four were not Return to Origin Absolute Void, together they could have slain even a Return to Origin Absolute Void expert!

If they had died suddenly without mishap, it was naturally Ning Fan who had killed them!

That a mere Void Inquiry cultivator like Ning Fan could kill four Absolute Void experts was truly hard to believe!

"We underestimated this boy somewhat... That he could alone wipe out four Absolute Void experts means he is no nameless figure in the Tree World... Lu Bei... this name is far too unfamiliar. Just what is his background..." A Void Fragmentation female cultivator with waist-length hair in pink robes showed thought in her beautiful eyes.

"Whatever his background, offending the Vine Sovereign means certain death. We have lost his whereabouts now, but if we observe carefully we will find that the direction he fled before was southeast. He bought a map of the Northern Tree Ocean in Vast Frost City—most likely he means to leave the Northern Tree Ocean... Judging by direction, this boy is preparing to flee to the Eastern Tree Ocean! We must hasten our steps and not let him enter the Eastern Tree Ocean! That is the Bamboo Sovereign's territory. Once he escapes there, killing him will be hard!"

A Void Fragmentation cultivator who looked like a large-headed child said darkly. In a few sentences of analysis he had already judged that Ning Fan meant to flee into the Eastern Tree Ocean.

"The Eastern Tree Ocean, huh... Hmph. The Four Great Tree Oceans are separated from one another by Territorial Light of Separation. No one can cross the Territorial Light of Separation into another Tree Ocean. To enter another Tree Ocean, one must pass through the Realm Gates between them... From the Northern Tree Ocean into the Eastern Tree Ocean there are six Realm Gates in all. If this boy wishes to enter the Eastern Tree Ocean, he must pass through one of those six. Though we have lost Lu Bei's whereabouts, we need only split into six paths, hasten our escape lights, hide in advance outside the six Realm Gates, and wait by the stump for the rabbit. When the time comes, we can kill him in one stroke!"

The speaker was the strongest among the three Void Fragmentation experts—a tree demon covered entirely in leaves. With every breath he took, countless trees around him withered.

His proposal to split into six paths and pursue Ning Fan met with no objection.

Once the plan was set, the three Void Fragmentation experts each pushed their escape lights to the utmost and fled toward three Realm Gates at the border of the Eastern and Northern Tree Oceans.

The other six Return to Origin Absolute Void experts, two to a group, split into three groups and fled toward the remaining three Realm Gates.

All six damaged their own cultivation and used secret arts to push their escape speed to the maximum, each approaching Void Fragmentation speed.

Earlier, peering through the bronze mirrors, they knew Ning Fan's escape speed was extremely fast, infinitely close to Void Fragmentation. They were not Void Fragmentation cultivators; to get ahead of him they naturally had to pay a price.

In everyone's view, that Ning Fan could kill four Absolute Void experts alone meant his combat strength was likely already close to Return to Origin Absolute Void.

Formidable as this boy was, facing two Return to Origin Absolute Void experts alone, or one Void Fragmentation expert alone, he would still die.

So long as they split into six paths, arrived ahead of Ning Fan, and hid outside the six Realm Gates, they could wait by the stump for the rabbit until Ning Fan walked into the net himself!

One month later, Ning Fan retracted his escape light and landed in Ju Mang Country of the Northern Tree Ocean.

Ju Mang Country was a Void-grade cultivation nation, situated at the border of the Eastern and Northern Tree Oceans. Past Ju Mang Country lay the Third Realm Gate into the Eastern Tree Ocean.

Ju Mang Country was filled with Fusang trees. Its rulers were the Fusang Tree Race, and its Country Lord was a Fusang tree demon of Absolute Void cultivation.

The Realm Gates into the Eastern Tree Ocean opened once every three years. Only a year had passed since the last opening; two more years remained before the next.

At present, many Tree World cultivators lingered in Ju Mang Country, waiting for the next Realm Gate opening so they could enter the Eastern Tree Ocean.

This Ju Mang Country bordered the Eastern Tree Ocean's territory and was in fact a subordinate force of the Eastern Tree Ocean's Bamboo Sovereign.

Low-level cultivators who wished to go from the Northern Tree Ocean into the Eastern Tree Ocean had to wait three years. High-level cultivators had a special exception.

Cultivators of Void Refinement and above who wished to enter the Eastern Tree Ocean could enjoy special treatment and need not wait three years.

They need only complete a mission left by the Bamboo Sovereign with the Ju Mang Country Lord, and the Realm Gate could be opened at any time for entry into the Eastern Tree Ocean!

Sitting in a tavern in a cultivation city of Ju Mang Country, Ning Fan learned of the Realm Gate's intelligence and frowned.

He naturally would not wait two years in the Northern Tree Ocean.

Thus, his only path was to complete the Bamboo Sovereign's mission and cross the Realm Gate at once.