Grasping Evil

Chapter 520: Chapter 520: That Feeling Goes Deep Into The Bone Marrow

Hong Yi stood beside Ning Fan with an unsympathetic expression to guard him.

She was like a peerless ferocious beast. As she stood there, none of the undead spirits in the Divine Region dared to attack Ning Fan.

Meanwhile, Ning Fan was focused on assimilating the power of the thunder fruits.

The power contained inside the thunder fruits were extremely pure, making it easy to refine them. With the refining speed of Ning Fan’s Yin Yang Devil Veins, it did not take him long to devour all of the thunder fruits.

With just a wave of his hand, he could normally swallow tens of Nascent Soul Realm cherry-like thunder fruits and digest all of their power.

When the Nascent Soul Realm thunder fruits went into his abdomen, they were completely refined into pure magic power.

At first, every one hundred Nascent Soul Realm thunder fruits contained five units of magic power.

After consuming over a thousand thunder fruits, Ning Fan broke through to the Mid Nascent Soul Realm.

After taking in more than four thousand thunder fruits, he achieved the Late Nascent Soul Realm.

When he had gobbled up twenty-five thousand plus thunder fruits, his cultivation base rose to the Peak Nascent Soul Realm. However, his body began to show some resistance toward the power of the Nascent Soul Realm fruits.

Afterward, one thousand Nascent Soul Realm thunder fruits could not even give him a single unit of magic power.

Ning Fan had spent one whole month finishing all of the Nascent Soul Realm thunder fruits. The only reason why he could progress so fast was all thanks to Hong Yi who activated her magic power to assist him in refining the power of the thunder fruits.

He could still remember that when he was near the end of refining all of the Nascent Soul Realm thunder fruits, he could not even gain one unit of magic power even after continuously consuming ten thousand thunder fruits…

His body was close to fully resisting the Nascent Soul Realm thunder fruits. Without a doubt, he had eaten so many of Nascent Soul Realm thunder fruits to the point where the fruits completely had no effect on him anymore.

However, even after he was nearly done with several millions of Nascent Soul Realm thunder fruits, Ning Fan’s separated soul still had yet to break through to the Divine Transformation Realm.

“Your speed in refining the thunder fruits is a bit too slow!” Hong Yi sounded a little dissatisfied.

“Slow? I don’t think so.”

Ning Fan shook his head, disagreeing with her. He was definitely not slow. At least, he was one hundred times faster than ordinary cultivators.

He still had several hundred thousands of Nascent Soul Realm thunder fruits that he had yet to consume. Even so, he stopped taking in those fruits and started swallowing the Divine Transformation Realm thunder fruits.

The number of Divine Transformation Realm thunder fruits he had almost reached fifty thousand. Each of them contained around 5 units of magic power.

After consuming 500 Divine Transformation Realm thunder fruits, the cultivation base of his separated soul had gained enough magic power to break through to the Early Divine Transformation Realm.

“You’re now at the Divine Transformation Realm. I hope you can directly attain the Void Refinement Realm with these thunder fruits.” Hong Yi said without any emotion.

“Hopefully.”

Ning Fan settled his mind and concentrated on refining the Divine Transformation Realm thunder fruits.

Since the Divine Transformation Realm thunder fruits contained a lot more magic power, it certainly would take Ning Fan more time to refine them compared to the Nascent Soul Realm thunder fruits.

Only after another whole month had passed did Ning Fan digest every last one of the fifty thousand Divine Transformation Realm thunder fruits. However, since his body had grown resistant to those fruits, his magic power was only increased by twenty-two thousand units, allowing him to attain the Late Divine Transformation Realm.

Then, Ning Fan’s eyes fell upon the Void Refinement Realm Dao Fruits. Ning Fan sighed gently. It seemed like even if he swallowed all of these Void Refinement Realm thunder fruits, it would not be enough for his separated soul to achieve the Void Refinement Realm.

There were only around 500 Void Refinement Realm thunder fruits in total. Each of them contained nearly 500 units of magic power.

It took him another month to finish all of those fruits.

Up until now, the magic power that his separated soul had amassed reached fifty-five thousand units. It was nearly the same as his true body’s total magic power already, reaching the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm.

“Could they only improve my separated soul to the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm…?” Ning Fan was slightly disappointed but he was still content with the result he got.

These several millions of thunder fruits were what he got after Hong Yi had slaughtered almost every last one of the undead spirits in the Divine Region.

Besides, it was all thanks to Hong Yi’s help which enabled him to make his separated soul advance to the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm in just three months.

If Ning Fan were to depend on himself to hunt down undead spirits to increase his cultivation base, he could definitely not kill any Divine Transformation Realm undead spirits, much less those at the Void Refinement Realm with his previous Early Nascent Soul Realm power.

With Hong Yi’s assistance, his separated soul had gained an additional fifty-five thousand units of magic power within three months. This really was a welcomed surprise.

If his separated soul gets out of the Sovereign Tomb and returns to his true physical body, his true body’s magic power would immediately exceed one million units!

Ning Fan sat on the ground in a meditative position to stabilize the cultivation base of his separated soul.

Hong Yi maintained her silence. Suddenly, she waved her hand and pulled a blood-red lightning power into fine threads. She then commanded them to coil around Ning Fan tightly and enveloped him inside the lightning threads like a silkworm cocooning itself in its silk.

“This is the ‘Demon Cocoon Technique’ of the demon race. You can save up a lot of time if you stabilize your cultivation base inside a demon cocoon.” Hong Yi explained.

Ning Fan sat inside the demon cocoon like a butterfly that was about to break out of its cocoon.

His expression looked stunned and vacant while staring at the blood-red thunder cocoon around him.

He felt extremely warm and safe inside the thunder cocoon… It felt just like staying inside his mother’s embrace…

It feels very familiar. Extremely familiar… It’s as if…

He felt as if he had been staying inside this thunder cocoon many years ago, waiting for the day to break out of it.

“Why would I have this feeling…?”

He felt confused, finding it difficult to understand the feeling he was currently experiencing. Eventually, he cast all of his miscellaneous thoughts to the back of his mind and focused entirely on stabilizing the cultivation base of his separated soul.

Three days had already gone by when the cultivation base of his separated soul completely stabilized. Hong Yi took off the cocoon from Ning Fan and let him out.

With a blank expression, he stared at Hong Yi.

“Have we met before…? I felt like I saw this lightning cocoon… a very long time ago…” Ning Fan suddenly asked.

“Perhaps. However, I’ve already erased all of my previous memories. I can’t really remember the past.” Hong Yi answered whimsically.

“Is that so…? Where are we going now?”

“To the Thunder God Palace located in the depths of the Divine Region to retrieve my corpse and the other half of my primordial spirit… Let’s go!”

Hong Yi made a gentle step on the ground with her hands clasped behind her back. Then, a red lotus thunder cloud appeared out of thin air to carry them and travelled toward the depths of the Divine Region at high speed.

This time, there were no longer any undead spirits or beasts trying to stop her.

Ning Fan stood behind Hong Yi on the thunder cloud, looking at her slender back.

Familiar. It looks very familiar…

He felt that he should have seen this figure somewhere before. Otherwise, it was certainly impossible for him to find it so familiar…

That feeling went deep into his bone marrow. It was as if he had spent thousands of years living with her. However, when he thought about it carefully, he found his own thoughts very laughable.

Thunder Sovereign Bu Zhou gained her fame tens of thousands of years ago and had only died ten thousand years ago. At that time, Ning Fan was not even born yet. There was no way for him to know her before his birth, much less spend thousands of years together with her…

“Stop letting your imaginations run wild. The Thunder God Palace is right in front of us. Be careful!” Hong Yi abruptly warned Ning Fan.

Ning Fan quickly raised his head and saw countless gigantic mountains standing erect in front of them.

A massive and magnificent Thunder God Palace was built on the summit of the largest mountain.

An obscure qi came out from the palace. That qi was extremely ominous, as if it belonged to a devil creature that came from the Devil Abyss.

The air gradually turned heavy and dull. The palace gave off an invisible pressure which made Ning Fan’s Half-Step Void Refinement Realm separated soul suffocate.

“My corpse is being shackled by Heavenly Dao Locks in the left wing of the Thunder God Palace. The other half of my primordial spirit was planted with a sinful seal which kept it in the right wing of the palace. You’ll be responsible for retrieving them both! Be it the Heavenly Dao Locks or the sinful seal, I suppose you can erase them with ease using the power of your Wind Mist Technique.” Hong Yi firmly said without giving Ning Fan the chance to refuse.

“What about you?”

“Me? I’m going to do some housecleaning and get rid of a creature that has betrayed its master!”

Hong Yi’s eyes flashed with killing intent. She took a gentle step forward and jumped down from the thunder cloud. Then, she smirked in the direction of the Thunder God Palace.

“Why haven’t you revealed yourself?! Roll out here!”

As Hong Yi let out a roar, columns of black qi which resembled dark clouds rushed out from the palace, condensing into a black ape with the height of ten thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang).

The huge ape’s body was bound with shackles. Its blood-red eyes that were filled with resentment looked at Hong Yi in shock.

“Impossible! Your physical body and primordial spirit are still sealed inside the Thunder God Palace. How can you appear outside the palace?!”

“Why? Aren’t you going to call me ‘Master’ again, Ti Hun?!” The killing intent in Hong Yi’s eyes intensified.

“You aren’t my master! I only have one master and he is the Rain Sovereign! You must die!” The huge ape that was named Ti Hun roared in anger and violently let out its aura force that was at the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm.

Ning Fan had been quiet all this time. Even though he did not know exactly why Thunder Sovereign Bu Zhou died in the past, he could tell what happened in general from their conversations.

Hong Yi’s death was probably related to the betrayal of this huge ape.

And the person who caused her death was probably the Rain Sovereign.

“Why are you still standing here? Head inside the Thunder God Place and retrieve my corpse and primordial spirit!” Hong Yi suddenly flicked her sleeve and commanded the red lotus thunder cloud to dash past the giant ape’s defenses at a speed comparable to the Fifth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm, heading straight into the palace.

The giant ape looked startled. It raised its gigantic palm and hurled it toward the red cloud, trying to stop Ning Fan.

However, Hong Yi’s actions were lightning fast. When she pointed a finger at the sky, hundreds of millions of lightning rays appeared in heaven and earth. They turned into blood-red lightning ropes which tied down the giant ape’s arm, stopping its attack.

“Who are you to injure him in front of me?!” Hong Yi sneered. She lightly lifted her palm and slammed it down on the giant ape.

Even though it was just a random attack, it carried an unimaginable amount of force which made the ape suffocate. Upon receiving Hong Yi’s palm attack head-on, it was sent flying backward with its massive body crushing countless mountains.

*Roar*

The giant ape was in pain and let out a thunderous roar of fury. When it applied its magic power, the shackles on its body all broke. Then, it charged at Hong Yi while flattening mountains and rivers along his path.

Every time their magic techniques clashed, mountains would collapse and rivers would disappear.

Sensing the terrifying power from the battle between Void Fragmentation Realm experts behind him, Ning Fan did not turn back since there was no need for him to do so.

He believed in Hong Yi’s strength. Even if that giant ape had strength at the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm, it certainly would not be able to escape death in her hands.

He now had one mission – to retrieve Hong Yi’s physical body and the other half of her primordial spirit from the Thunder God Palace.

From what he heard, Thunder Sovereign Bu Zhou built the Sovereign Tomb herself and hid inside there in an undead state.

From Ning Fan’s perspective, however, she probably encountered betrayal in the past which inflicted her with near-fatal injuries. That was why she let her physical body and the other half of her primordial spirit hide inside the tomb.

As for the reason why the giant ape would be inside the tomb, it was probably because the Rain Sovereign ordered it to guard Hong Yi’s corpse and primordial spirit. It could also be because of some other reasons. Ning Fan could not know for sure.

When he approached the entrance, he jumped down from the thunder cloud and dashed forward in a ray of light. Right afterward, he stopped in front of the large gate.

It was a ten thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) tall gate covered with blood-red lightning rays.

The gate was established with layers of lightning formation. Its intensity was at the Immortal Void Grade. Without the Rain Sovereign’s token, even a Void Fragmentation Realm expert would not be able to get past the formations and enter the palace.

Feeling the extraordinary lightning power from the large gate, Ning Fan gently inhaled. Then, he stomped on the summit of the mountain, summoning a massive lightning diagram beneath his feet.

From the moment this lightning diagram appeared, the eyes of Hong Yi who was currently battling against the giant ape were filled with surprise.

“Tai Su Lightning Diagram! This young man truly deserves to be the inheritor of the Tai Su Lightning Star. He can actually display the lightning diagram of the Thunder Sovereign Tai Su. With this lightning diagram, he should be safe inside the Thunder God Palace. As such, I can stop worrying about him anymore and focus on fighting against Ti Hun!”

*Bang*

Ning Fan gently placed his finger on the large gate.

It was not showy but as soon as his finger came into contact with the gate, an unimaginable amount of thunder might spread out from his body. It was as if the person who touched the gate was not Ning Fan but an immortal emperor instead!

That was the finger bone that once belonged to an immortal emperor and it contained supreme lightning might. Every other lightning power could not harm this finger!

The lightning power on the gate dissipated. Ning Fan pushed the door open and walked inside the palace with large steps.

The structure inside the palace was not complicated. It was merely divided into the left and ring wings with many lightning formations and lightning puppets set up there to defend against outsiders.

Ning Fan did not even look at those formations and spiritual puppets. He just quietly walked toward the left wing of the palace.

He had assimilated the Thunder Emperor’s finger bone and condensed the Tai Su Lightning Star. While stepping on the Tai Su Lightning Diagram, his arrival was just like the arrival of the Thunder Emperor herself. None of the lightning formations or lightning puppets were bold enough to harm him!

Ning Fan headed over to the left wing of the palace without experiencing any resistance all the way.

The left part of the palace was extremely empty. Countless huge bronze pillars were built there.

The corpse of a lady wearing red robes was found on one of the pillars. Her body was tied up above the pillar using several steel ropes that gave out immense cold qi.

She was not breathing and seemed like she was in deep slumber. With her eyes closed, her expression looked tranquil and quiet, just like a sleeping beauty.

This corpse was Hong Yi’s previous body.

There were countless wounds on this corpse which were from many battles. Many of them were so deep that the bones were even visible.

Ning Fan could not help but feel sympathy for her when he saw the innumerable wounds on her body.

Even though his relationship with Hong Yi was not yet deep, he actually felt an indescribable wrath when he saw such grievous injuries on her.

It was similar to seeing his best friend of thousands of years getting injured by others, making him unable to suppress his rage.

“This is strange! Why would I feel such anger after seeing the injuries on her body…?” Ning Fan calmed himself down as his eyes turned deep.

Countless thoughts filled his mind. However, he could not figure out the source of his anger no matter what.

“Fine. I’ll cut off these steel ropes first and retrieve her corpse. If I am not mistaken, these steel ropes should have been condensed using the power of the Heavenly Dao – Heavenly Dao Locks…”

When Ning Fan lifted one of his fingers, traces of golden purple mist spread from it. They drifted toward the steel ropes, turning them into ashes.

Beneath the Samsara, all the six realms of existence were as insignificant as ants.

A mere Heavenly Dao was just one of the six realms. It was nothing in front of the power of samsara!

“Break!”

When Ning Fan muttered a single word, the Heavenly Dao Locks which were supposed to be indestructible began to erode!

Weren’t those the Heavenly Dao Locks that even Thunder Sovereign Bu Zhou could not break in the past?! Now they were actually being turned into ashes by Ning Fan’s Wind Mist Finger!

As the steel ropes turned into ashes, Hong Yi’s corpse fell down from the pillar, falling to the ground.

As fast as lightning, Ning Fan leapt forward and caught Hong Yi’s corpse, pulling the body into his embrace.

The icy cold corpse did not have any warmth. However, when Ning Fan held it in his embrace, it gave him a feeling of warmth that he had never felt for a long time.

That feeling of warmth went deep into his bone marrow…

“I got the physical body! But why would I experience such a strange feeling…” Ning Fan said with a confused look.