Grasping Evil

Chapter 537: Chapter 537: I’m Your Tribulation

Ning Fan stepped on the ancient golden sword with a cold glint in his eyes as he went straight after the three demonesses.

The three of them had been spying on him. Besides, they did not conceal their killing intent against Ning Fan at all. Since they harbored ill intentions against him, it was impossible for Ning Fan to let them go.

The speed of his ancient sword was close to the Void Fragmentation Realm. The three demonesses could not outrun him at all. Within just a few breaths, Ning Fan had already caught up with them.

Ning Fan kept his ancient sword and stood coldly in front of them, blocking their escape route.

“This is bad! We’ve been caught up by this malevolent being!”

“We can’t run away from him. The speed of the golden ancient sword that he rode is too terrifying. There is literally no way we can escape from him!”

“He doesn’t summon his Void Fragmentation Realm spiritual puppet. Let’s fight him with all we have!”

The three demoness were already aware that there was no hope in escaping and the only choice they had was to fight a desperate battle against Ning Fan.

Without hesitation, each of them took out their natal magic treasures and delivered an attack at Ning Fan.

“Demon Bone Fan!”

“Yin Phoenix Stings!”

“Poisonous King Cauldron!”

The three magic treasures were all High Grade Mortal Void Realm treasures. They went straight at Ning Fan’s head. Their vigorous momentum caused heaven and earth to shake.

Ning Fan, however, still remained a neutral expression. With a flick of his sleeve, he took out a blood umbrella and pointed it at the three incoming treasures.

As the blood umbrella spread open, it gave off faint red halos of spirit wheels that pulled all the three magic treasures into the umbrella.

The three demonesses were immensely surprised. The blood umbrella that Ning Fan used was too unusual. Besides, despite his Void Inquiry Stage magic power, he actually could handle High Grade Mortal Void Realm magic treasures so easily!?

Judging from the situation, the three demonesses could not put up a fight against Ning Fan at all unless they used Peak Grade Mortal Void Realm magic treasures!

Furthermore, if Ning Fan breaks through to the Void Pierce Stage, he probably could directly take away every magic treasure below the Void Fragmentation Realm and Immortal Void Realm magic treasures using his blood umbrella!

“Since our magic treasures can’t hurt him, we’ll use our demon techniques to kill him!”

Panic-stricken, the three ladies made a series of hand seals together. A massive void sea appeared beneath their feet and roiling demon power began filling the sky.

Ning Fan naturally would not give them a chance to display their magic techniques. He stepped on his ancient sword and turned into a pure golden sword ray, abruptly vanishing into nothingness.

When he appeared again, he was already behind the three ladies. He gathered his magic power in his hand to summon a half-black and half-white rope and cast it at the three demonesses.

The three demonesses felt danger from the black and white rope. They wanted to avoid it but they could not make it in time at all.

The rope suddenly sped up. All they could see was a flash of light and they were already bound by the rope.

The power of this black and white rope clearly was not as powerful as Giant Zi Dian’s lightning fetters. However, when it tied around their bodies, it actually sealed off their entire magic power, weakening their bodies and restricting their mobility!

Their expressions grew pale with fright. All of them realized that the black and white rope was a type of extremely scary bewitching technique that specialized in restraining female cultivators!

This technique was none other than the Yin Imprisoning Rope Technique that Ning Fan used to capture Old Ancestor Bi Tong in the past!

Yin Plucking Finger, Yin Imprisoning Rope… The further Ning Fan’s cultivation in the Yin Yang Transformation, the scarier those techniques would be in restraining female cultivators.

“From today on, you all will be my human cauldrons!”

As soon as Ning Fan finished speaking, he dragged the three demonesses back to the desolate island. After a session of plucking, the three of them were only left with a cultivation realm at the Harmonious Spirit Realm. Then, he put them in the repentance palace of his Cauldron World.

Well, he was not a kind and magnanimous person. If someone tries to harm him, he would certainly not show them mercy.

Ning Fan had fused his magic power, demon power and devil qi together in the past. Even though the human cauldrons he plucked were demonesses, thy still could raise his magic power. After plucking the three of them, his magic power rose by two hundred thousand units, reaching eight million and two hundred thousand units in total.

Combined with nine million units of essence qi in him, the total units of his magic power and essence qi had reached a terrifying figure of seventeen million and two hundred thousand, which made him not far away from the threshold of becoming an Absolute Void Stage expert – twenty million units of magic power.

Theoretically speaking, when Ning Fan accumulates thirty-six million units of magic power, he could then start trying to push through the bottleneck of the Void Fragmentation Realm. However, his chances of achieving the breakthrough were extremely slim.

Many Absolute Void Stage old monsters had accumulated eighty to ninety million units of magic power but still only a few of them managed to break through to the Void Fragmentation Realm. The rest of them would eventually die due to the end of their lifespans.

The magic power required to advance to the Void Fragmentation Realm was too massive. At the Void Fragmentation Realm, units returned to yuan. The denomination for the measurement of magic power was no longer a unit but a yuan.

A unit was 60 years but a yuan[1] was 129600 years.

Void Refinement Realm magic power and Void Fragmentation Realm magic power were not on the same level. Hence, it was extremely difficult for Void Fragmentations Realm experts to disregard the difference of their cultivation realms and defeat someone with a higher cultivation realm.

If Ning Fan wants to break through to the Void Fragmentation Realm, he must find some Void Fragmentation Realm arts to cultivate when he is at the Absolute Void Stage to turn his unital magic power into yuan magic power…

As for exactly how many yuan of magic power one would need to achieve the Void Fragmentation Realm, it was different from each and every single person. Ning Fan also was not sure about it.

There were a few Void Fragmentation Realm experts around him. Unfortunately, none of them had the same situation as Ning Fan who fused his magic power, demon power and devil qi into one. Without a doubt, the verbal spells or arts that other Void Fragmentation Realm experts used were already not suitable for Ning Fan.

If he wants to advance to the Void Fragmentation Realm, he must find a Void Fragmentation Realm art that is suitable for all the three races – the demon race, devil race and human race to practice… Well, it probably would take him some effort in order to find this kind of art.

“I’ll only need a Void Fragmentation Realm art after breaking through to the Absolute Void Stage. I’ve just attained the Void Inquiry Stage recently and the Absolute Void Stage is very far-off. Hence, there is no need to be in a rush to search for an art that is suitable for me…”

“As I’ve already broken through to the Void Inquiry Stage, none of the female cultivators below the Void Fragmentation Realm will be my match. Male cultivators, on the other hand… With my current cultivation realm, I’m certainly unrivalled among all Void Pierce Stage experts. And, I should be able to put up a fight against an Absolute Void Stage expert who has yet to turn their unital magic power into yuan. However, if I face those Absolute Void Stage cultivators who have successfully obtained yuan magic power, I’m afraid that I won’t have a huge chance in defeating them…”

Ning Fan muttered to himself on the desolate island. After quite some time, he left the South Gazing Sea in a flash of light.

At the border between the South Gazing Sea and the eight hundred cultivation countries, Ning Fan suddenly stopped moving with a surprised look on his face.

On the shore of a cultivation country near the South Gazing Sea, a lady was quietly standing on a reef, gazing into the sea waves all alone. She seemed to be waiting for someone.

That lady wore a set of snow-white plumage dress and a light veil to cover her face. Her long sleeves made her look graceful and her eyes were picturesque. Her expression, however, was cold and arrogant. She looked like a saintess who looked down upon the mundane world and led a life that departed from common livings.

Her presence emanated the Mid Nascent Soul Realm qi. She had been staring blankly at the ebbs and flows of the ocean waves without speaking a single word.

Only when she noticed Ning Fan’s travelling light passed by did she raise her head and looked into the sky. Her eyes contained resentment, longing and complicated emotions.

“I’ve been waiting for you…” Her tone was ice cold.

“Waiting for me, huh…” Ning Fan also put on an uneasy look. He descended upon the reef and stood facing the lady.

“Should I call you Si Si or Si Wuxie or… Weiliang…?”

The white-robed lady in front of him was none other than the sect master of the Heaven Separation Sect – Si Wuxie…

Her other identity was the seven physical souls of Mu Weiliang…

Because she was a part of Mu Weiliang, Ning Fan could not bear to kill her in the end. He clearly knew that she was his enemy but he still let her go alive…

Ning Fan was always sure that he never owed or treated any of his women shabbily. However, when he thought about it today, the person whom he treated the most unfairly was Si Wuxie.

When he was trying to rescue Ning Gu in the past, he annihilated the entire Heaven Separation Sect and captured Si Wuxie. Then, he wiped off her memories and turned her into a spiritual puppet.

When he thought about it carefully today, he realized that even though Si Wuxie was at fault, it was the elders of the Heaven Separation Sect who plotted against him and Ning Gu and it was not Si Wuxie herself.

Wasn’t there just an innocent reason for why Si Wuxie came to the Lower Realm in her clone…? All she wanted to do was to find back the three spiritual souls of Mu Weiliang. Why would she still go to such great lengths to plot against two mortal young men…?

The grudges and debt of kindness in the past might be difficult to tell but Ning Fan still felt that he owed Si Wuxie to a certain extent.

She was Weiliang’s seven physical souls. No matter what, how could he hurt her…?

“You indeed have figured out my identity…” After hearing Ning Fan call her ‘Weiliang’, Si Wuxie’s body felt a jolt. Her eyes flickered with a hint of sadness.

She was Mu Weiliang’s seven physical souls. Because her seven physical souls were yet to disperse, she still preserved some memories of her previous life. She still remembered her three spiritual souls. She still remembered that butterfly…

In the past, she went against the heavenly laws of the Kunlun Jade Pool in the Western Heaven and secretly descended to the Lower Realm in her clone just because she felt the existence of her three physical souls in the Rain World and she wanted to find them back.

Unfortunately, before her clone attained the Nascent Soul Realm and started to find her three spiritual souls, Ning Fan eliminated her Heaven Separation Sect and captured her, making her his human cauldron and spiritual puppet.

Her memories went blank. She became Si Si. She started to be dependent on Ning Fan. She started to like him.

However, when her memories came back to her, she was in extreme agony after remembering how Ning Fan humiliated her and turned her into a puppet.

During the battle of the devil armies and Yue Country, she had already recovered her memories. She wished that she could give Ning Fan a stab on his back and cause him to die in Yue Country.

In the end, however, she still could not convince herself to do that cruel act and eventually helped Ning Fan resist the invasion of the Heavenly Dao Sect…

She took Ning Fan’s Nascent Formation Pill and left in sadness.

She still remembered the final words she said to Ning Fan on the day she left.

“From today on, we owe each other nothing…”

Owing each other nothing… How wishful that idea was. When she returned to Yue Country, she discovered that Ning Fan had already found the three spiritual souls of Mu Weiliang. Then, she faintly understood something…

How could it be possible for the two of them not to owe each other anything? Both of them were already entangled with each other in their previous lives. He was that butterfly, that butterfly who sacrificed itself to destroy one of the immortal emperor’s eyes just to protect her…

While she had been looking for her three spiritual souls, she was also searching for that butterfly she met in her previous life. However, who would know that the butterfly whom she was always thinking of was that young man who hurt her in the past…

Only asking to bid a long farewell but who could guess the two of them owe each other.

Ning Fan let out a sigh and raised his hand. He wanted to touch Si Wuxie’s cheek but when he saw her avoid him like the plague, he put down his hand eventually.

“Do you still hate me?”

“Of course! If I turn you into a spiritual puppet, wipe off your memories and trample your dignity but I am also in love with you, would you hate me…?” Si Wuxie gnashed her silver teeth. The deeper the love one had for the other, the more intense the hatred.

She hated Ning Fan but she could not bear to turn into his enemy no matter what… Because in the end, be it the previous life or the current life, she still loved him.

She suddenly grabbed Ning Fan’s hand and sank her silver tenth into his arm, biting it violently.

Ning Fan did not dare to activate the defense of his physical body, worrying that his ancient devil body would harm her. He only let her bite him to her heart’s content.

Si Wuxie bit his arm until fresh blood was flowing down from his arm in streams. Ning Fan did not say a word nor stop her. He just silently let Si Wuxie vent out her emotions.

Only after a long while did Si Wuxie calmer down a little. Then, she said with a teasing tone.

“I didn’t expect that the young man who only has the Harmonious Spirit Realm in the past would actually reach this level after forty years of training and become a Void Inquiry Stage expert, gaining the title ‘Marquis White Robe’ that shook the Rain World. Such innate talent in the cultivation realm is truly shocking. Perhaps the greatest four sects of the Upper Realm will also come to recruit you and aid you in your ascension.”

“However, let me give you a piece of advice. You better not ascend to the Western Heaven Immortal World. You’re an ancient devil, an evil creature that many Buddha sects in the Western Heaven are fond of killing. If you ascend to the Western Heaven, I’ll certainly tell others that you are an ancient devil due to the resentment between us. If that happens, you will be pursued and hunted down by countless True Immortal Realm Buddha cultivators and die without a burial place!”

Si Wuxie’s tone sounded like she was threatening Ning Fan. However, Ning Fan heard the concern she had for him from those words.

Did Si Wuxie just warn him not to ascend to the Western Heaven…?

This woman actually still cared about him in the bottom of her heart, didn’t she…?

Ning Fan was also aware of the endless feud between the Buddha sects of the Western Heaven and the ancient devils. Even if he has the opportunity to ascend to the Upper Realm, he also certainly would not choose the Western Heaven.

“Thank you…”

“What are you thanking me for? Let me get this straight. I don’t have the slightest concern regarding your life and death.” Si Wuxie turned to one side and said, stubbornly denying her kind intention.

“Did you just want to tell me this by waiting for him at the South Sea today? Speaking of which, how did you find me…?” Ning Fan asked.

“The entire Yue Country knew that the great Marquis White Robe headed to the South Gazing Sea to face his tribulation. So was it very difficult for me to know your whereabouts? As for the reason why I looked for you this time, it’s actually because I have something that I want to discuss with you… First of all, I’m very thankful to you for finding the three spiritual souls…” When Si Wuxie said ‘thankful’, she obviously looked somewhat reluctant and embarrassed.

“I have not only found the three spiritual souls but also the seven physical souls…” Ning Fan deliberately stared at Si Wuxie and said with a faint smile.

“The seven physical souls will never belong to you!” Si Wuxie frowned and glared at him with a cold expression. Then, she continued, “No matter what grudges or debt of gratitude between us in our previous life or the current one, it’s already all over now… The two of us no longer owe each other anything…”

“Is that so…?” Ning Fan let out a sigh. Apparently, letting Si Wuxie to accept him again was not something that could be done within one day.

“The reason why I looked for you is to tell you that I sensed that Mu Weiliang’s corpse will wake up in another twenty plus years. Before that happens, you must ‘return’ her three spiritual souls and seven physical souls to her… You must let her souls return to their original place…” Si Wuxie lowered her face, trying to hide her expression that was filled with reluctance.

She was the seven physical souls while Zhi He and the others were the three spiritual souls.

If Ning Fan returns the souls to their original body, she and the other women would vanish from this world forever…

If the souls are not returned to their original body, Mu Weiliang would only be a soulless shell even if she is revived…

Si Wuxie was unwilling to die. No one in the world would want to die. However, letting Mu Weiliang’s souls return to their original body was her obligation as her seven physical souls.

“So you sensed that Weiliang is about to wake up, huh… I suppose the reason why you came to find me is to discuss the matters about how to return Weiliang’s souls to their original place. Unfortunately, I don’t have the idea of returning her souls to her body.”

“What?! You aren’t planning to let her souls return to her body?! Do you have any idea how long her souls have been dispersed?! Do you have any idea how eager she wanted to open her eyes and have a look at that goddamn butterfly?! She misses you so much but you refuse to return her souls to her!” Si Wuxie’s ice cold face was filled with rage.

“It’s not because I refuse to do so. I just can’t bear to do so… To me, be it Zhi He, Mu Xiaoliang or Mu Xiaohuan, all of them are Weiliang. And you, Si Wuxie, are also Weiliang… All of you are her. If she regains her souls, all of your existences will disappear… I guess this also isn’t what Weiliang wants in the end.”

“Twenty years later, her artificial souls will be created using the power of the Seven Treasures Buddhist Relics. Then, she will be revived. She might not be able to become a true living person without her true souls. However, I will find a way one day to truly revive her without hurting you, Zhi He, Xiaoliang and Xiaohuan!”

“I’ve promised her that I will provide her with a life with no conflicts. This world will certainly grant her a peaceful life!”

After hearing Ning Fan’s words, Si Wuxie’s anger dissipated and complicated emotions began taking over her heart.

It turned out that Ning Fan did not just care for Mu Weiliang but also those who were a part of her souls…

All of a sudden, she recalled the scene when Ning Fan gave her the Nascent Formation Pill and let her go… Her ice cold heart gradually melted with warmth.

“Very well! You are the butterfly that she is waiting for. Since you said you aren’t going to return her souls to her, then so be it. After all, I am not willing to have my existence erased. However, remember what you’ve said. You must help her condense her true soul one day. Otherwise, I will never let you go!”

“Since you’ve already found all her three spiritual souls, it’s meaningless for my clone to continue lingering in the Lower Realm. I’ll return to the Western Heaven Immortal World now. In another fifty years, the sealed gate of the Ancient Heavenly Court will be opened again. When that time comes, I’ll send a Void Fragmentation Realm true soul to look for you.”

Si Wuxie’s words made Ning Fan slightly stunned. “Why will you look for me fifty years later?”

“There is an Undying Tree in the Ancient Heavenly Court that can help a cultivator whose souls are completely scattered to condense their souls again… Fifty years later, I’ll bring you to look for that Undying Tree to congeal the souls for Mu Weiliang…”

After Si Wuxie had finished speaking, she made a series of hand seals and performed a magic technique called Body Shattering Art. it could make the user’s clone to disperse while carrying its memories back to their original body.

She wanted to return to the Western Heaven…

“So we’ll meet again fifty years later, right, Si Si?” Ning Fan said with his lips curved upwards. At the next instant, he took a step forward and pulled Si Wuxie who was performing the hand seals into his embrace, tightly hugging her.

“Let go of me! Don’t touch me! You shameless man!” Si Wuxie’s face was still as cold as ice. She was unwilling to let Ning Fan hug her but was reluctant to break free from him at the same time. All she did was just cursing him in a low tone.

“I’ll never let go. And, don’t you ever think you can run away from me. I’m your tribulation and you can’t avoid me in this life…”

Under Ning Fan’s faint smile, Si Wuxie’s body gradually grew fainter and broke down into strands of starlight which flew into the Four Heavens.

At the edge of the holy pond in Kunlun Jade Pool of the Western Heaven, a white-robed lady who covered her face with a light veil was sitting on a bluestone peacefully.

All of a sudden, stands of starlight flew toward her and entered her body.

The lady closed her eyes with a complicated look on her face and let out a sigh.

“You are my tribulation, huh…”

“My Saintess, what are you talking about?! What tribulation? Could it be that the great heavenly tribulation of your Shedding Void Realm is approaching? That is not a small matter?!” A maidservant said with a worried tone.

“No. It isn’t the heavenly tribulation. I’m just saying things randomly…” The white-robed lady looked at water ripples on the surface of the holy pond. Her eyes were filled with complicated emotions and she went silent for a long time.

Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel

1. Unit (Chinese: 甲子, Pinyin: jià zǐ & Yuan: 元会, Pinyin: yuan huì)

First off, we need to make some clarifications about these terms. The translation we did might not necessarily be exactly true. Instead, we are just translating these two denominations in terms that can be easily understood. Feel free to correct us if you find them wrong. The following is what I’ve found from the internet.

Jia Zi (甲子, jià zǐ) which is translated as Units in the novel, is a part of the sexagenary cycle, a.k.a Stems-and-Branches or ganzhi. It means a cycle of sixty years. However, when I searched up Jia (甲), one of its meanings said that it’s an unit for measuring families in ancient times. So I just decided to translate it as Unit in the novel for easier understanding.

Yuan Hui (元会, yuan huì) which I’ll translate as Yuan in the novel, is actually comes from Yuan Hui Yun Shi (元会运世, yuan huì yùn shì). According to Wikipedia, it acts as a unit for estimating the historical periods in the world. The four elements, Yuan, Hui, Yun and Shi add up to 129600 years. Due to the complexity of its entire explanation, I’ll just translate it as Yuan.

Sources:

For Jia Zi 甲子