Grasping Evil

Chapter 481: Chapter 481: Restoring the Ancestors and Devil Conferral (6)

Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong’s appearance gradually became younger and he eventually turned into a refined young man with a cold expression completely.

He was born in an ancient immortal domain. He had stepped into the path of cultivation since birth and at a young age, he already had access to countless cultivation resources supplied by his family. He still kept his juvenile appearance even when he had attained the Reckless Devil Realm.

Compared to Ning Fan who entered the cultivation path halfway in his life, Mo Zhong clearly started his journey earlier and had a much higher and better starting point.

All of a sudden, two rays of light which were as dazzling as the sun shone within his cold piercing eyes.

His eyes gave off an extraordinary wave of pressure, just like the sunlight shining over the entire world and the radiance of the galaxy descended from the ninth heavens.

“When I was at the Early Reckless Devil Realm, the divine weapon I held was a Two-Star Divine Weapon called Sad Devil Axe.”

At this moment, it was impossible for Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong to forge the Sad Devil Axe right away to fight Ning Fan.

He lifted one of his fingers and the turbid sea of blood beneath his feet suddenly turned so clear that it could even show his own reflection.

As he willed it, the reflection on the sea of blood slowly presented an ink painting of his memories.

That panting in the water was the drawing of the scenery of an ancient immortal domain with a vague young man in black robes holding an axe to fight others.

Mo Zhong reached out his hand to the water and scooped something out like fishing the moon from its reflection on the water. Surprisingly, he actually picked out the axe that was in the painting.

With a flick of his finger, the imaginary axe shadow gradually solidified and eventually became a real dark golden divine axe that was a Two-Star Divine Weapon. It was none other than the Sad Devil Axe that Mo Zhong used in his youth.

“Transforming illusions into reality!”

Ning Fan’s eyes turned solemn. The method which Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong used to summon his Sad Devil Axe was actually the Transforming Illusions Into Reality Technique that only a True Immortal Realm being could attain!

Being able to witness an ancient great immortal emperor displaying this kind of technique with his own eyes certainly was an extremely rare chance. It would be greatly beneficial to him in comprehending the word “truth” in the future!

“Let’s begin.”

Mo Zhong reminded Ning Fan and made a step forward suddenly. His body dissipated into countless traces of smoke. The movement technique he had just used was doubtlessly the Void Teleportation Technique!

Mo Zhong who was at the Early Reckless Realm Devil already showed an excellent innate talent in teleportation technique as he could travel at a speed comparable to that of a Void Pierce Stage expert.

Ning Fan felt a massive sense of danger coming from his back. He activated his demon eye and devil eye to their full capacity but he could only capture a trace of Mo Zhong’s afterimage.

Without hesitation, Ning Fan summoned his Eight Black Burning Wins. As he flapped his wings, he turned into a ray of firelight and disappeared from his original spot.

Just a split second after he vanished, the shiny cutting edge of an axe slashed downwards at his back and cut through the air.

The force of that slash had cut the sea of blood which occupied hundreds of thousands of li* (500m per li) into two. Countless pieces of skies shattered under that strike!

The slash of the axe was strong enough to instantly kill a Void Inquiry Stage expert. Even Ning Fan’s Primordial Lightning Armor might not necessarily be able to withstand the force of the attack!

“Your movement speed isn’t half bad.”

Mo Zhong revealed himself with an axe in his hand and complimented in a flat voice. Ning Fan also showed himself at ten thousand zhang* (3.33m per zhang) away from Mo Zhong. His back was already cold and wet.

Mo Zhong’s actions were too fast. If Ning Fan was slightly slower just now, he would have been severely injured by his axe…

Ning Fan did not dare to be complacent. He touched his glabella and Separation Slayer Sword flew out in a ray of starlight and appeared in his hand.

Seeing that Ning Fan also had a Two-Star Divine Weapon, Mo Zhong nodded his head slightly in approval and straight away charged at him directly.

“The First Style of Sad Devil Axe, Strength!”

Mo Zhong raised his axe and gathered his essence qi on the muscles and bones of his single arm which held the weapon. He channeled the strength of his entire body into the Sad Devil Axe and fired it out in the next moment.

The initial destructive power of the axe was already capable of instantly killing a Void Inquiry Stage expert. When he used the first technique to wield his axe that created the ultimate strength by utilizing the sudden burst of his essence qi, it was comparable to the axe attack delivered by a cultivator with the Third Level of the Golden Body Realm!

Ning Fan activated his devil eye and studied all the movements of Mo Zhong’s essence qi.

It was a profound method of using the essence qi. By gathering all essence qi in one’s weapon, it could greatly boost the destructive power of the weapon in an instant.

Ning Fan raised his Separation Slayer Sword vertically. He mustered the essence qi of his whole body from the golden orifices and gathered it in the muscles and bones of the hand he used to wield the sword.

The Separation Slayer Sword which was originally as light as a feather became heavier and was filled with power at the next moment. Ning Fan made a swing and delivered a sword attack towards the Sad Devil Axe.

*Bang*

As the both attacks ran into each other, Mo Zhong moved half a step backwards, feeling amazed. Undoubtedly, he was amazed by the ability of Ning Fan’s devil eye which allowed him to see through the movement of others’ essence qi and imitated their techniques.

“Your devil eye isn’t half bad.” Mo Zhong said indifferently.

Even though he had also learnt a similar ability that allowed him to steal others’ techniques by peeking their essence qi after becoming an immortal emperor, he definitely did not know about any technique like this when he was at the Reckless Devil Realm.

When Ning Fan received the impact from the force of Mo Zhong’s axe, he was pushed tens of steps backwards. Many parts of the bones in his arm were fractured. The sudden explosive force of Mo Zhong’s attack was too terrifying. Even though he had imitated him and used the same technique on him, he was still at a disadvantage.

Well, he certainly had no idea that Mo Zhong struck fear into countless Void Pierce Stage old monsters using this technique when he was at the Early Reckless Devil Realm.

The battle intent in Ning Fan grew stronger. His eyes showed no sign of fear. He pointed a finger at the sky and ninety-nine black stars appeared. With his body basking in the starlight, the fractures of his bones were immediately healed.

He flapped his fire wings and approached Mo Zhong again. His actions surprised Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong a little. The latter was not only surprised by his Black Star Technique but also his spirit.

He had obviously suffered a minor loss in the earlier confrontation but he was not frustrated. Instead, he still pressed forward with greater courage and will to fight Mo Zhong with sheer strength. He really was an audacious man.

“Strength!”

Ning Fan raised his Separation Slayer Sword and the weight of the sword made him feel like he was brandishing a mountain. When he activated his essence qi this time, he became more adept than before in controlling it. The strength he could unleashed became greater.

With his black hair dancing wildly in the air, Mo Zhong lifted his axe once again which split the heavens apart and withstood the incoming Separation Slayer Sword from NIng Fan.

*Clank*

It was another collision between the sword and the axe. Mo Zhong moved back one step while Ning Fan backed off for twenty steps.

Nearly at the same time they both were pushed backwards, Ning Fan dashed towards Mo Zhong again and swung his sword at the Sad Devil Axe.

After being sent backwards and charging forward over and over again, Ning Fan became more proficient in using “strength”. During their final clash with their weapons, both he and Mo Zhong only moved back three steps. The strength he used had actually reached the same level as Mo Zhong’s.

Since it was difficult for Mo Zhong to win against Ning Fan using his strength, he altered the flow of his essence qi and gathered them on his feet and the wrist that held the weapon.

“The Second Style of Sad Devil Axe, Speed!”

*Chi*

All of a sudden, his movement speed was boosted up explosively. Before his afterimage had even disappeared, his axe had already arrived at Ning Fan’s head.

It was still a little unsuitable to describe the speed he wielded his axe as fast as lightning. There was no Void Inquiry Stage expert who would be able to see the tracks of his axe vividly. Even though Ning Fan had activated all his demon eye, devil eye and human eye, he just managed to capture a trace of shadow of the axe’s trajectory.

However, it was already enough for him to defend against that attack.

“Speed!”

After mastering the control of strength, Ning Fan became more and more skilled in using his essence qi. When he witnessed Mo Zhong using the second technique, he just copied him completely.

The Separation Slayer Sword was already very light in the first place. After using his essence qi to drastically enhance its speed, the sword light of the slash he made was slightly faster than the shadow of Mo Zhong’s axe.

Just before Mo Zhong’s axe landed on his head, he had already pointed the tip of his finger at the former’s dantian, slightly piercing through his robes. Ning Fan would be able to cut his primordial spirit to pieces before having his head split by his axe.

“You’re pretty fast.”

Mo Zhong was rather impressed. Even though it was common sense that an axe was slower than a sword, the fact that Ning Fan’s actions were faster than him made him rather shocked.

Mo Zhong literally stopped the movement of his axe and hurriedly got away from Ning Fan to evade his sword light, knowing that he could not outpace him.

Then, he changed his essence qi once again. This time, he channeled every last trace of it into the edge of his axe.

“The Third Style of Sad Devil Axe, Shadow!”

This time, Mo Zhong made a cut in the air. However, it multiplied into forty-eight million axe shadows in the sky and every one of them was powerful enough to cut through a Golden Core Realm cultivator.

The total sum of destructive power of forty-eight million axe shadows could instantly kill Void Inquiry Stage expert!

Ning Fan’s eyes turned stern. The third style that Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong used was nothing fancy. It was just maximizing the potential of the strength, speed and shadows of the axe. This technique was suitable to use in any kinds of magic techniques and Devil Martial Art. In a way, the level of this technique exemplified the so-called simplicity of the Great Dao.

Ning Fan brandished his sword light and a rush of quiet and somber sword intent rose around him.

Traces of sword shadows emerged beside the Separation Slayer Sword. It was none other than the technique which Ning Fan had not used for a long time – Myriad Sword Style!

With a swing of his sword, Yun Tianjue could summon a hundred million sword shadows and it still was not necessarily his limit.

In the past, Ning Fan could just summon ten million sword shadows at full power. Even so, it still made him capable of defeating Elder Xuan Yi in a single move.

Facing forty-eight million axe shadows from Mo Zhong, just having ten million sword shadows was far from enough.

Ning Fan recalled every single structure of the Myriad Sword Style. At the moment he noticed Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong wielded his axe shadows, the structures became particularly clear.

There was not a division between the righteous path or the devil path in the Dao of Sword. No matter what power a cultivator has, be it magic power or essence qi, anyone who could wield a sword could then use sword techniques.

All of a sudden, Ning Fan’s understanding about the Myriad Sword Style took on another path, a path that was completely different from Yun Tianjue’s sword Dao.

Ning Fan infused his sword with all of his magic power and the Separation Slayer Sword divided into ten million sword shadows.

He then channeled his entire essence qi into the sword which caused his Separation Slayer Sword to produce another forty million sword shadows.

In terms of the cultivation in essence qi, Ning Fan might not be able to surpass Great Emperor Mo Zhong, the ancestor of the Devil Dao who founded the Devil Conferral Summit.

However, Ning Fan cultivated both the divine path and the devil path. Having both Yin and Yang complementing each other, his might allowed his sword to produce fifty million sword shadows, which were an amount slightly greater than Mo Zhong’s axe shadows!

“Myriad Sword Style, Shadow!”

Ning Fan raised his sword and pointed at the sky. The fifty million sword shadows and the forty-eight million axe shadows met. In just an instant, the victor and loser of the fight appeared.

The axe shadows were completely crushed while Ning Fan still had two million sword shadows remaining and they flew towards Mo Zhong directly.

Merely two million sword shadows were obviously unable to hurt Mo Zhong. However, it filled his eyes with seriousness.

Mo Zhong mastered the three styles of axe technique when he was young and he used all of them on Ning Fan in the fight.

At first, the strength axe gained advantage against him but Ning Fan evened it out by catching up with his strength.

Then, the speed axe was literally beaten by the speed of Ning Fan’s sword. Even so, there was no sign of defeat in his eyes.

The final shadow axe, however, instantly lost to Ning Fan’s Myriad Sword Style. Even though it was just a small defeat, it was adequate to prove that the younger version of him had suffered a loss from Ning Fan!

In the ancient immortal domain, there were one billion worlds. Mo Zhong was the immortal emperor in the world he resided. He was the strongest expert there.

Moreover, among the immortal emperors of one billion worlds, he was ranked seventh.

There were only a handful of individuals who could make him suffer a small loss and those people were at least the outstanding immortal emperors at the same level as him.

As Ning Fan could push Mo Zhong to such an extent, it meant that his innate potential already exceeded countless ancient immortal emperors!

“You’ve won me in weapons. But axe techniques aren’t something that I’m most skilled in.”

Mo Zhong lete go of his Sad Devil Axe and it immediately disappeared into nothingness since it was originally a shadow of an axe that was brought to reality.

He lifted his small finger and placed it into his mouth. Without hesitation, he bit off tat finger but there was not a single drop of blood dripping out from his wound.

In an instant, his finger regrew and the flesh on that bitten finger vanished, leaving only the bones. Then, the bones disintegrated and formed into countless shadows of cultivators.

“Ancient Devil Dao, Summoning Armies by Crushing Bone!”

As Mo Zhong shouted that command, the crushed finger bone turned into six million shadows of Peak Gold Core Realm devil guards!

In the past, Moksha Emperor had also used the same technique. However, the one he used was just a fragment of the lost ancient devil ability. How could it be as complete as the technique that Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong used now?!

Summoning six million Gold Core Realm devil shadows with a finger. This kind of ability was just unthinkable!

Besides, Immortal Emperor Mo Zhong used his younger version to display this technique. If he uses this technique with his full immortal emperor power, he could probably summon billions of Void Fragmentation Realm devil shadows that would help him conquer the world!

“This is the true Summoning Armies by Crushing Bone! It isn’t the incomplete technique that Moksha Emperor used in the past!”

Ning Fan activated his devil eye, giving his best to steal this ancient devil ability.

As the founder of the Devil Conferral Summit, Mo Zhong’s status was far above the nine ancestors of the devil race. The ancient devil ability he used was perhaps the most original and complete secret techniques in the world!

Similarly, Ning Fan bit one of his fingers off and cried out the same words.

“Ancient Devil Dao, Summoning Armies by Crushing Bone!”

His little finger instantly regenerated. Seconds later, the bone of his broken finger turned into a six million Gold Core Realm devil army which emanated immense devil qi!

Summoning six million Gold Core Realm devil army using a single technique. With these six million devil army, Ning Fan could wipe out a high grade cultivation country as easy as blowing off dust

“Kill!”

The devil armies which the two parties summoned charged towards each other and a large-scale massacre began. As soon as they died, they would vanish into ashes.

Eventually, Ning Fan and Mo Zhong ended up with a draw in the war between their six million devil armies.

However, Mo Zhong had obviously used this technique countless times. Even though he now used it based on his Early Reckless Devil Realm power, his proficiency was undeniable.

As for Ning Fan, other than witnessing the incomplete version of the similar technique from Moksha Emperor and Bone Emperor, it was his third time seeing this technique.

Even so, he still ended up with a tie against Mo Zhong. If he studies this technique more deeply, the destructive power of the technique he displays would certainly be greater than that of the young Mo Zhong!

Mo Zhong was fully aware that if he were born in the same era as Ning Fan, the latter would certainly become one of his strong opponents in his journey of attaining the Dao.

Be it the three styles of his Sad Devil Axe or the Summoning Armies by Crushing Bone, they all weren’t his strongest techniques.

The young Mo Zhong’s eyes shone in golden light that was as dazzling as the sun again and they were pervaded with immense battle intent!

“What’s your name?” This question showed the degree of respect he had for Ning Fan. Right after this moment, he was going to go all-out on him.

“Ning Fan!”

Ning Fan also kept his Separation Slayer Sword. His expression was gloomy. Except for the Myriad Sword Style, he had not gained any advantages against Mo Zhong since the beginning of the fight.

So this is the strength of the young great emperor…

“You cultivated both the divine and devil race and you can use magic power and essence qi. If I am not mistaken, this should be the Yin Yang Devil Vein which Luan Gu[1] created. Your innate potential is rather extraordinary for being able to cultivate the Yin Yang Devil Vein to this level. However, you seem to have yet to attain the other inheritance of ‘Invincible Attack’. This is pretty unfortunate to you. I’m afraid that you’ll find it a little strenuous in our next round.”

Chi*

Suddenly, Mo Zhong’s eyes shot out a golden light so bright that the entire world darkened, leaving only his eyes as shiny as the genuine sun.

“The nostalgia that formed by the cold dew can never endure the light of daybreak. The nine rays of light in my eyes are none other than the Nine Li[2]! The Nine Li Incarnation Technique!”

In the next moment, Mo Zhong’s physical body broke apart and scattered into nine golden rays.

The nine golden rays turned into nine shadows of gigantic beasts. All of them were of different species. Among them, there were a heavenly dragon, a bone bird, a giant python, a tiger leopard and others.

The only similarity between them was that each of their bodies gave out golden light as bright as the sun.

All of the beasts were at the Mid Reckless Devil Realm and every single one of them was as strong as Flying Raindragon King!

Ultimately, none of the gigantic beasts had a real body!

“These are incarnations. Nine incarnations!” Ning Fan’s eyes were filed with shock. The young Mo Zhong actually managed to cultivate the nine great incarnations and split his body into nine!

Incarnation was a Void Fragmentation Realm ability. However, before the young Mo Zhong had attained the Void Fragmentation Realm, he had already learnt this technique. He truly was extraordinary.

Moreover, the young Mo Zhong’s understanding about incarnation technique had not only arrived at the level of healing himself using incarnations but also Incarnation Transformation, which was a higher level than the aforementioned.

He was proficient in 81 transformations in total using his incarnation! Aside from that, the strength of all of the ferocious beasts he transformed was greater than the level of his original body.

Ning Fan activated his devil eye. Suddenly, he seemed to have understood something…

Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel

[1] Luan Gu (Chinese: 乱古 Pinyin: luàn gǔ) Luan means chaos. Gu means old or ancient. This is the Chinese name of Ancient Chaos or Immortal Emperor Ancient Chaos (including his title). It was previously translated literally based on the meaning of the words but we decided to use back pinyin for his name for less confusion.

[2] Li (Chinese: 黎 Pinyin: lí) It should mean the light of dawn in this context.