Grasping Evil

This was a small city at the edge of Ju Mang Country. The cultivator of highest cultivation in the city was merely a Peak Nascent Soul great cultivator.

Ning Fan sat alone in a tavern by the window. Outside, Fusang trees grew thick.

The trees resembled hibiscus and were covered in fiery-red blossoms. When the breeze stirred, the whole city filled with the clear fragrance of grass and wood.

Ning Fan sipped his wine and listened to the idle talk within the tavern.

Several tables discussed the newly appointed Fire Sovereign of the Flame World; others spoke of the wars in the Mountain World and the Earth Immortal World.

One table discussed matters of the Third Realm Gate—the Tang Gu Realm Gate. Another table was even talking about the Pill Sovereign of the Rain World; apparently news that the Pill Sovereign had broken through to Seventh Revolution pill refinement had already spread beyond the Rain World.

Naturally, what people discussed most was still the devil lord wanted across the entire Northern Tree Ocean—the ruthless man bold enough to kill even a disciple of the Vine Sovereign.

"I heard the one who killed the Vine Sovereign's disciple is called Lu Bei. Now the Vine Sovereign has put a bounty on him. Whoever can kill him gets ten billion immortal jade and ten bottles of Sixth Revolution pills... Tsk tsk tsk, ten billion immortal jade! With that much money, you could buy an entire high-grade cultivation country, couldn't you?"

"They say that Lu Bei has three heads, six hands, and eight feet—a survivor of the Ghost Tree Race. Because his clan was wiped out, he hates the Vine Sovereign..."

"What! Lu Bei is of the Ghost Tree Race! How come I heard he was the young clan lord of the Stone Nan Race..."

"Tsk tsk tsk. Your cultivations are too low; none of you have seen Lu Bei's wanted notice. This old man only left Lu Zhou Country half a month ago and entered Ju Mang Country. Ju Mang Country is under the Bamboo Sovereign, so no one here is hunting Lu Bei—but Lu Zhou Country belongs to the Vine Sovereign. Inside every cultivation city of that whole nation, Lu Bei's wanted notices are plastered everywhere... I saw Lu Bei's appearance on the notice. He is not the three-headed, six-armed monster of rumor. He does not look fierce at all—more like a frail scholar... Hmm? Let me look. Right—he looks rather like that young man at the table across from us..."

The moment those words fell, many customers' gazes slid toward Ning Fan.

First they stared blankly; then they all burst into laughter.

"Brother Sun, do not joke with us. How could that great devil Lu Bei look so frail? Haha, haha..."

The tavern was noisy. Ning Fan gradually paid it no mind.

Finishing his watered wine, he rose abruptly, left ten immortal jades on the table, and drifted away.

Ning Fan had already decided to enter the Eastern Tree Ocean and buy large quantities of Tree Spirit Fruit to raise his Rain Intent.

The Realm Gate opened once every three years; two years remained until the next opening. The Territorial Light of Separation that sealed the Four Great Tree Oceans was far too powerful. Below the Immortal Realm, one touch of that light meant annihilation to ash and smoke.

Ning Fan's cultivation was still too low to force his way through the Territorial Light of Separation by divine ability. He wished to cross the Realm Gate yet was unwilling to wait idle for two years, so he naturally needed to go to the Ju Mang capital and complete one of the Country Lord's missions.

Leaving the tavern, Ning Fan turned into an escape rainbow and raced east.

Half a day later, Ju Mang Country's royal capital was already faintly visible in the distance.

Yu Yi City, the royal capital of Ju Mang Country, was a gigantic tree-city spanning ten thousand li.

It was said that tens of millions of years ago there had been no Yu Yi City here—only a great wilderness, and at its heart a towering Fusang giant tree.

That tree had nurtured countless Fusang tree demons. The Fusang tree demons founded a capital here and established the Fusang Country.

Outside Yu Yi City, hundreds and thousands of cultivators' escape lights came and went.

Ning Fan retracted his escape light, drifted down outside Yu Yi City, and entered with the crowd.

The moment he entered, he immediately spread his divine sense and vaguely sensed twelve or thirteen Void Refinement auras within Yu Yi City.

Ning Fan did not carefully investigate their origins; he merely wished to know how many high-level cultivators were in the city and where the palace lay.

Having fixed the direction of the royal palace, Ning Fan walked slowly forward, occasionally shifting his form.

Along the way he passed many cultivation shops. Bordering the Eastern Tree Ocean, this place sold quite a few Tree Spirit Fruits.

Ning Fan browsed the city for half an hour, spent more than two billion immortal jade, and bought over four hundred Tree Spirit Fruits.

His Rain Intent was already at the fourth grade. By his estimate, to break through to third-grade Rain Intent he would need to devour at least five thousand Tree Spirit Fruits.

Advancing from fourth grade to third was far harder than from fifth to fourth.

The further one went, the more enormous the number of Tree Spirit Fruits required. How many would be needed to reach first-grade Rain Intent was anyone's guess.

Besides Tree Spirit Fruits, Ning Fan also bought many spiritual materials for repairing puppets.

Half an hour later, Ning Fan appeared outside the royal palace.

It was a palace built from a hollowed giant tree. Twelve squads of cultivators patrolled outside the gates; the leader of each squad was at Divine Transformation cultivation.

Low-level cultivators were generally forbidden near the palace. Only Void Refinement old monsters who wished to cross the Realm Gate would come seeking the Country Lord to accept the Bamboo Sovereign's missions.

When Ning Fan approached with a smile, a squad of cultivators at once came forward to meet him.

The leading Divine Transformation captain was a demon cultivator. He spread his divine sense and swept Ning Fan, yet could not sense the slightest aura from him.

Beneath Ning Fan's smile, the baleful qi he held in check was like an untouchable devil abyss, making the demon soul in this Divine Transformation captain's dantian tremble violently...

The captain's gaze turned solemn. In an instant he understood: the faintly smiling white-robed youth before him was a proper Void Refinement old monster—and a devil lord who had killed without number.

Whether he was a devil lord was none of the captain's concern. He understood only one thing: since the other party had come to the royal palace, he was naturally seeking the Country Lord to accept a mission.

"Fusang Guard Captain Tang Chen greets Senior. Has Senior come to seek the Country Lord for a mission and to pass the Realm Gate?"

The captain's tone was extremely respectful, yet he did not recognize Ning Fan's face at all and did not know Ning Fan was the man wanted by the Vine Sovereign.

"Correct. This Venerable One wishes to pass the Tang Gu Realm Gate and is unwilling to wait idle for two years, so I have come seeking the Ju Mang Country Lord." Ning Fan's smile did not fade; none of the guards dared meet his eyes.

"In that case, Senior, please follow me."

The Divine Transformation captain ordered the other guards to continue their patrol and personally led Ning Fan into the royal palace.

Along the way, the captain enthusiastically explained the outline of the Realm Gate missions.

From the Northern Tree Ocean into the Eastern Tree Ocean there were six Realm Gates in all. The one in Ju Mang Country was the Third Realm Gate, bordering Tang Gu, and was called the Tang Gu Realm Gate.

The Eastern, Western, and Southern Tree Oceans were carved up by Tree Sovereigns and were not easy to enter.

But entering the Northern Tree Ocean from the Eastern Tree Ocean was quite easy, for the Northern Tree Ocean was a masterless land.

Over the years, many Void Refinement old monsters unwilling to wait for the Realm Gate to open would come seeking the Ju Mang Country Lord to accept missions.

Those missions were all issued by the Bamboo Sovereign; some were hard, some easy.

The missions in the Ju Mang Country Lord's hands were graded by difficulty into five star levels.

Void Glimpse missions were one-star, Void Inquiry missions two-star, Void Pierce missions three-star, Absolute Void missions four-star, Void Fragmentation missions five-star.

Completing a mission of any star level granted a chance to pass the Realm Gate, along with rewards matching that star level.

Ning Fan looked thoughtful. If he only wished to pass the Realm Gate, he would naturally choose the simplest one-star mission.

But if high-difficulty missions offered rich returns, he would also consider completing those.

Before long, Ning Fan passed through chamber after chamber and arrived at the main hall.

The Divine Transformation captain withdrew respectfully. Within the main hall stood a tall, slender bald old man with a smile.

The old man was about nine chi tall, skinny as a stick, wearing a loose green robe with wide sleeves. His temples bulged high; his skin was dry as tree bark.

Absolute Void Stage aura flowed from his body. He stared at Ning Fan without expression, then suddenly spoke.

"So you are Lu Bei? The devil cultivator the Vine Sovereign is hunting across the world? Bold of you. The entire Northern Tree Ocean is hunting you, yet you still dare come openly to my Ju Mang Country. Are you not afraid this old man will seize you and hand you to the Vine Sovereign for the bounty!"

"Oh? Lu did not know that subordinates of the Bamboo Sovereign would obey the Vine Sovereign's orders and help him seize people."

Ning Fan smiled faintly, composed and unhurried, neither worried that the old man before him would capture him nor surprised that the old man could recognize his identity.

Now both the Western and Northern Tree Oceans were hunting him. Low-level cultivators might not know his face, but high-level cultivators likely each held a copy of Ning Fan's wanted notice.

Ning Fan neither believed the old man would seize him, nor believed the old man could.

Seeing Ning Fan calm and composed without a flicker of change in color, clearly a bitter cultivator who had weathered great storms, the old man's gaze showed approval. He suddenly laughed aloud.

"This old man is the Ju Mang Country Lord, Tang Xiong! Those words about seizing you were only a joke with Fellow Daoist Lu. This old man is the Bamboo Sovereign's subordinate and naturally will not help the Vine Sovereign catch anyone. Fellow Daoist Lu remains unmoved by crisis. Though you are only at Void Inquiry cultivation, that courage surpasses some Void Pierce old monsters. This old man admires it!"

Tang Xiong cupped his fists toward Ning Fan. Ning Fan smiled faintly and returned the courtesy.

"Lu greets the Ju Mang Country Lord. I have come to Ju Mang Country to accept a mission and cross the Realm Gate into the Eastern Tree Ocean."

"Accept a mission, huh..."

Tang Xiong looked Ning Fan over a few times, then suddenly asked, "May I ask for what purpose Fellow Daoist Lu enters the Eastern Tree Ocean?"

Guarding the Realm Gate for the Bamboo Sovereign, Tang Xiong naturally had to clarify Ning Fan's intent.

Ning Fan's fierce name was not small in the Northern Tree Ocean; daring even to kill the Vine Sovereign's disciple, he was a bold and lawless sort. If he entered the Eastern Tree Ocean to kill and plunder, Tang Xiong would not stop him from entering, yet would secretly inform the Bamboo Sovereign and have people watch him in secret.

If Ning Fan entered the Eastern Tree Ocean only to escape the Vine Sovereign's vengeance—a path of last resort—Tang Xiong would take the chance to recommend him to the Bamboo Sovereign and try to draw him in and win him over.

If Ning Fan had truly been driven to a dead end by the Vine Sovereign and fled all the way to the Eastern Tree Ocean, he would most likely be willing to throw in with the Bamboo Sovereign.

Tang Xiong studied Ning Fan carefully, thoughts racing.

Ning Fan seemed to see through Tang Xiong's mind. He shook his head with a wry smile. "Country Lord, rest assured. Lu enters the Eastern Tree Ocean not to pick quarrels. If others do not offend me, I will not kill. And I enter the Eastern Tree Ocean not to flee disaster either—only because I have heard the Eastern Tree Ocean produces Tree Spirit Fruit, and I need that fruit."

"Tree Spirit Fruit?"

Tang Xiong had not expected that Ning Fan entered the Eastern Tree Ocean only to purchase Tree Spirit Fruit.

Recalling intelligence from the city's secret guards, Ning Fan had indeed bought large quantities of Tree Spirit Fruit after entering Yu Yi City...

Thus he believed Ning Fan's motive for entering the Eastern Tree Ocean by about three parts.

Hearing Ning Fan's declaration that "if others do not offend me, I do not offend others," Tang Xiong nodded slightly. He could see that when Ning Fan spoke those words, his gaze was calm—unlike a lie.

The path of cultivation was filled with countless struggles and killings; no one could guarantee he would never kill after entering the Eastern Tree Ocean. So long as he did not slaughter indiscriminately, it was enough to allow him entry.

Hearing that Ning Fan was not entering the Eastern Tree Ocean to hide from the Vine Sovereign, Tang Xiong's respect for Ning Fan's courage rose another measure.

An ordinary cultivator who offended the Vine Sovereign would likely have already been scared to death; Ning Fan still wore that calm, composed look.

Such composure came from within—because he had something to rely on, he had nothing to fear.

Tang Xiong could not imagine why a Void Inquiry junior had such confidence that he did not fear the Vine Sovereign's pursuit in the least.

He secretly guessed that Ning Fan might not be as simple as he appeared on the surface, and that he perhaps should not be treated as a mere Void Inquiry cultivator...

Tang Xiong chuckled, patted his storage bag, and waved out several hundred jade slips. He sorted them into five piles on a green jade desk and explained to Ning Fan.

"Fellow Daoist Lu wishes to enter the Eastern Tree Ocean to purchase Tree Spirit Fruit—naturally there is no problem. Only, a full two years remain until the next Realm Gate opening. If Fellow Daoist wishes to cross early, by the rules you must complete a mission. These are all Realm Gate missions, from easy to hard, five star levels in all. Fellow Daoist may choose one to complete. With Fellow Daoist's Void Inquiry cultivation, if you take only a one-star mission, a few days will suffice..."

"A few days, huh..."

Ning Fan spread his divine sense and swept the five piles of jade slips on the green jade desk.

From left to right, difficulty rose from low to high. The first pile recorded only one-star missions—such as entering Tang Gu and slaying a hundred Divine Transformation tree demons, or refining a Low Grade Sixth Revolution pill...

For Ning Fan, one-star missions were extremely easy. Barring mishap, he intended to accept a mission to hunt tree demons. With his divine abilities, killing a hundred Divine Transformation tree demons would be effortless and would not waste much time.

His gaze swept the two-star and three-star missions; those were likewise not very hard.

Even four-star missions he was confident he could complete—for example, one four-star mission required reinforcing the national protective grand formation for all of Ju Mang Country, a formation at Peak Mortal-Void grade...

With Ning Fan's attainment in formations, completing that mission was not hard, though it would take considerable time.

Ning Fan's gaze swept the jade slips for five-star missions. There were only three five-star missions in all.

The first five-star mission was to kill a certain First Heavenly Layer Void Fragmentation rogue cultivator of the Northern Tree Ocean. The mission reward was fifty billion immortal jade...

There were seven or eight Void Fragmentation experts in the Northern Tree Ocean. The jade slip did not detail who the target was, only that this person had offended the Bamboo Sovereign in earlier years.

Sweeping past that mission, Ning Fan shook his head. Killing a Void Fragmentation expert was too risky; he would not casually take such a mission.

The second five-star mission was to refine a Seventh Revolution pill.

Ning Fan shook his head again. He had no Seventh Revolution pill arts to complete such a mission.

The third five-star mission was newly issued: enter Tang Gu of Ju Mang Country and exterminate two newly born Tree Kings among the tree demons of Tang Gu.

This mission was somewhat simpler than the first two. The two Tree Kings to be killed were both only Return to Origin Absolute Void.

The mission did not limit the number of participants. The jade slip noted that nine people had already accepted it and were waiting for a tenth Void Refinement cultivator to join before going together to Tang Gu to hunt the Tree Kings.

If Ning Fan accepted, he would be the tenth...

Ning Fan shook his head lightly. At full strength he could fight a Return to Origin Absolute Void expert, yet he had no certainty of killing one.

Fighting two Tree Kings still carried some risk, and Ning Fan was unwilling to take risks lightly.

By his nature, simply accepting a one-star mission and finishing it would do; there was no need to court extra trouble.

Yet when his gaze fell on the mission reward, his eyes suddenly sharpened.

Mission reward: one puppet refined from a Min Luo Race corpse, grade Void Glimpse puppet... plus an additional two billion immortal jade.

"May I ask the Country Lord—what is a corpse puppet of the Min Luo Race...!" Ning Fan's gaze began to frost over with cold.