Grasping the Evil

Chapter 1201: Battle Against the Red Lotus Again!

On the barren, flesh-like earth, Netherworld Ghost Flowers grew more and more numerous, gradually turning the radius of several thousand miles into a world of thorns and vines.

The roots of the Netherworld Ghost Flowers penetrated into crevices in the rock layers, greedily sucking the underground water containing traces of Saint’s blood.

No one knows how thick the earth is here. The power of a Quasi-Saint’s self-detonation is terrifying, yet it only blasted through a very thin layer of rock. The roots of the Netherworld Ghost Flowers can only drink the minimal amount of underground water on the surface of the earth. The deeper underground water remains untouchable.

A Saint’s particle of dust can fill the sea, and a blade of grass can cut through the sun and moon with ease. Even a single drop of blood holds supreme power. The Netherworld Ghost Flowers are not just drinking blood. They are ingesting the world’s most nourishing medicine. As more blood is consumed, their vines begin to emit a faint clear aura. If examined closely, one would find these auras can be divided into three distinctly clear qi types, varying in depth, with the Three Pure Yields sometimes gathering and sometimes dispersing, mysterious and indescribable.

Ancestor Leize cannot see the Three Pure Yields gathering and dispersing, so naturally, he is not interested in the appearance of this clear aura and simply focuses on healing his wounds.

Ning Fan, however, is quite interested in the Three Pure Yields’ gathering and dispersing.

"What is the clear aura appearing on your body?" Ning Fan asked the Netherworld Ghost Flowers.

[Wrong. This is not Qi, but Qi.]

Qi and Qi sound alike, making this statement somewhat hard to comprehend.

"Not Qi, but Qi? I don’t get it."

[The acquired is qi, the innate is qi; breathing is qi, existence is qi; qi is the starting point of all life, qi is the ultimate goal of all reaching; Qi is... Qi is... Qi is... Qi is...]

Ning Fan simply responds with an "Oh," realizing that the Netherworld Ghost Flowers are explaining the difference between Qi and Qi.

In many cultivation scrolls, the character Qi often appears. Many scrolls even mix Qi and Qi together. Ning Fan doesn’t understand what Qi is, and during the Era of Decline, no one knows of anyone who has cultivated it. Even with the Netherworld Ghost Flowers explaining so much now, Ning Fan still doesn’t comprehend what Qi is, just like he doesn’t comprehend many things.

Some things cannot be described with words. No matter how you describe it, words cannot touch its essence; only the heart can understand.

"Forget it. What Qi is doesn’t really matter. You’ve just mentioned a method that allows me to drink Saint’s blood directly?"

[Not in large quantities, but small quantities are possible.]

"I’m already very pleased to consume a small amount of Saint’s blood raw. I didn’t expect the Stone Carving Tribe to have such secret techniques that require the blood of the Third Step powerhouses to begin cultivation..."

In previous conversations, the Netherworld Ghost Flowers told Ning Fan some secrets about the Stone Carving Tribe.

In truth, they aren’t really secrets. In the Real Realms, everyone knows about this. In the days when the Demon-Sealing Ancient Summit thrived in the Dreamland Realm, this was no secret either. But now that the Stone Carving Tribe is declining in the Dreamland Realm, this has become history, hence Ning Fan’s ignorance of the fact.

The Stone Carving Tribe cultivates blood, ancient demons cultivate spirit, Fiendgods cultivate the heart. Different cultivation paths naturally possess unique innate abilities. The Stone Carving Tribe’s talent lies entirely in the word ’blood.’ If the blood is cultivated to its limit, it transforms, forming the Stone Carving Tribe’s unique secret technique of slaughter—Ancestral Return.

The realm corresponding to the Stone Carving Tribe and Eternal Cultivators is known as the Ancestral Return Realm—however, for Ning Fan, who cultivates multiple bloodlines, whether it’s called Ancestral Return or Eternity, it makes no difference to him. He isn’t too concerned. Ning Fan always felt that Ancestral Return was merely a name, calling it wrong wasn’t an issue, but that isn’t the truth.

During the era when the Demon-Sealing Peak still existed, any ancient demon from the peak who cultivated to the Ancestral Regression realm was eligible to begin practicing the Ancient Demon Ancestral Technique. Unfortunately, truly mastering the technique was one in ten thousand. The nine demon ancestors suppressed beneath the Ancient Demon Abyss were renowned not for their advanced cultivation but because, by chance, they all began the practice of Ancestral Regression, setting them above their peers in the Stone Carving Tribe.

The practice of Ancestral Regression is as challenging as ascending to the heavens, with a stringent requirement to consume Saint’s Blood just to qualify for cultivation. How precious is the Saint’s Blood! Among the ancient demons of the Eternity Realm, very few manage to acquire the Third Step Saint’s Blood, and even fewer happen upon it and manage to consume it without dying. Moreover, Saint’s Blood is merely the threshold to begin practicing the technique; mastering it to the highest level presents even harsher conditions. Apart from Great Emperor Mo Zhong, not one person from the Demon-Sealing Peak ever cultivated the Ancestral Regression to its supreme level.

Not even the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor achieved the highest level of Ancestral Regression—his studies were too scattered.

Naturally, Ning Fan had no knowledge of this. He became interested in the technique only after hearing from the Netherworld Ghost Flower about its immense power.

The practice of Ancestral Regression is divided into three phases: Blood Absorption Regeneration, Blood Sacrifice Rampage, and Blood Rite Ancestral Return.

As the name suggests, Blood Absorption Regeneration involves absorbing the dispersed blood and Qi of enemies to restore one’s injuries and mana. This is quite similar to the principles of the Lifestealer Technique, although the Lifestealer Technique has other uses. Ning Fan suspects that Great Emperor Mo Zhong based the Lifestealer Technique on principles from the first stage of Ancestral Regression, establishing his status as the lord of the Demon-Sealing Summit.

The Blood Sacrifice Rampage is far more formidable, being a secret technique to temporarily boost one’s power by sacrificing one’s own blood, forcibly increasing personal strength. The higher the bloodline level of the ancient demon, the more significant the rampage boost. Parts of this technique resemble the principles of the Lifestealer Technique, which increases power through killing; the difference is the sacrifice—enemies’ lives for Lifestealer, one’s own blood for rampage.

The third stage, Blood Rite Ancestral Return, is the most terrifying. The Netherworld Ghost Flower isn’t particularly clear about its specifics, as she is not an ancient demon. However, she shared a story with Ning Fan: in the Real Realms, there once was an ancient demon at the Vein Opening realm who, due to an accident, directly returned to his ancestry, losing control of his intellect and slaughtering several mid-tier Immortal Kingdoms, killing over a dozen Saints...

A Vein Opening ancient demon destroyed nations and killed Saints! It sounds like a fairy tale, but if true, Ancestral Regression is horrifying—what kind of experience is the three-stage Ancestral Regression?

Of course, the price of Ancestral Regression is heavy. That Vein Opening youngster too severely surpassed his realm using Ancestral Regression, resulting in the collapse of all parallel reincarnations of himself, and ultimately, he was erased from existence by reincarnation. Even as strong as the Fourth Step Immortal Emperor, he could not retrieve this child from the depths of endless reincarnation...

Let’s not wander off topic...

With the nourishment of Saint’s Blood, the Netherworld Ghost Flower’s injuries healed completely, and she regained full vitality in less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn. As she recovered, all the Eternal Ghost Soldiers that Ning Fan had created also returned to full form, livelier than ever.

Now comes the main point! The Netherworld Ghost Flower claims she can offer Ning Fan some level of assistance in consuming Saint’s Blood and starting the first stage of the Ancient Demon Ancestral Technique.

The first stage is Blood Absorption Regeneration; if Ning Fan could acquire this ancient demon’s ability, his injuries would be no issue, and he would heal by absorbing a bit of Saint’s Blood in no time.

The Netherworld Ghost Flower doesn’t expect to help Ning Fan cultivate the second stage of Ancestral Regression. Is the technique so easy to cultivate? The cultivation of this technique requires Saint’s Blood to initiate and a profound comprehension of the nuances of Ancestral Regression. Even the well-known and feared ancient demons of the Real Realms need eons to understand the essence of Ancestral Regression when they begin practicing the technique. Without sufficient understanding of the first stage, the second stage is an impossible threshold.

[Next, I will directly absorb the underground Saint’s Blood. You bite through my root stem and drink my root liquid to obtain the diluted component of Saint’s Blood. My root liquid can harmonize the vast energy of Saint’s Blood and make it easier to absorb. But not everyone can consume my root liquid; only those who have made a contract with me can do so, otherwise, they shall suffer the curse of the Nether...]

The curse of the Nether?

Ning Fan nods, not asking further about what the curse of the Nether entails. He only needs to know one thing: only a contract bearer like him could receive the assistance of the Netherworld Ghost Flower and use this method to cleverly consume Saint’s Blood.

The Netherworld Ghost Flower draws out a stem as thick as a bowl and presents it to Ning Fan for him to bite.

Ning Fan takes the stem, observes it for a long time, and after confirming that it poses no harm to him, finally opens his mouth and bites. Yet, as his teeth are about to touch the stem, he hesitates. Isn’t the Netherworld Ghost Flower a female, and isn’t this stem equivalent to her body parts, with root liquid akin to blood? Biting into her body and drinking this woman’s blood seems rather cruel. Against enemies, Ning Fan wouldn’t mind such cruelty, but the Netherworld Ghost Flower has been his ally through multiple life-and-death battles...

[You hesitated; do you suspect I might use this method to harm you? Rest assured, contracts are powerful constraints beyond your imagination. Since I have made a contract with you, I cannot perform any act of harm against you, unless the contract between us is terminated. Moreover, I am trapped in a cage, and you are my hope for survival—I have no reason to harm you.] Due to Ning Fan’s sudden hesitation, the Netherworld Ghost Flower seems to have misunderstood.

Ning Fan smiles wryly but doesn’t explain further—how could he? Should he say he felt a tender-hearted sense over some vine stems? As for suspicion... since hearing the All-Knowing Elder’s words, Ning Fan has realized that every matter in this world is filled with doubts and deception. You can doubt everything, even your own existence, but ultimately... you need to believe in something. He chooses to believe in the Netherworld Ghost Flower and in the shared struggles along the way, believing them not to be false. If ultimately deceived, he’ll simply accept it. Isn’t that the truth of the world...

With determination, he finally took a bite.

Seeing Ning Fan choose to trust her, the Netherworld Ghost Flower seemed quite pleased, as no one likes to be doubted by their companions. Her vines and branches swayed joyfully, though it was unclear if it was due to the breeze.

The sap was bitter, as bitter as a woman’s tears for her longings.

Amidst this bitterness, there was a faintly detectable sweet and metallic taste, the taste of blood, further diluted within the sap of the Ghost Flower—Saint’s Blood!

Hot! So hot!

That minuscule amount of Saint’s Blood was unimaginably scalding, as if just a tiny strand could reduce Ning Fan to ashes!

Hotter than Pure Yang!

More intense than any other Second Step flame in the world!

It was the heat of boiling blood; at a microscopic level, one would discover that every blood cell of the Saint’s Blood was etched with ancient scripture!

Inscribing scripture in blood! This is a method only a true saint could possess! Unless one reaches the Third Step, no matter how heaven-defying, it is impossible to achieve this!

Ning Fan sat cross-legged on the ground, drinking the blood from the stem, his face contorted in pain. His face grew redder, and his body swelled like a balloon, the pain was unbearable.

No way!

With his current cultivation, he couldn’t forcibly refine the Saint’s Blood, even with the help of the Netherworld Ghost Flower. What he ingested was an amount so minuscule it was practically untraceable.

Yet this slight amount represented an insurmountable chasm between the Second Step and the Third Step! It represented the majesty of the Third Step, which cannot be violated by the Second Step under any circumstances!

Dare to drink my blood, then I’ll take your life, this is the majesty of a Saint!

In a daze, through that strand of Saint’s Blood, Ning Fan seemed to see a gigantic queen ant as vast as the Great Thousand World, glaring at him.

What Ning Fan drank was the blood of the Ant Lord!

The illusion he saw was the Tao and thoughts left by the Ant Lord deep within the blood!

Under the influence of the Ant Lord’s Taoist thoughts, Ning Fan was shocked to find that his own Taoist thoughts were beginning to show signs of collapsing due to the fusion of the Saint’s Blood!

Indeed, his current cultivation wasn’t enough to consume Saint’s Blood, even if he possessed a heaven-defying divine body, it still wasn’t enough.

He couldn’t do it yet; from ancient times till now, how many Second Steps could accomplish this!

The Ancient Demon Clan was an exception, their bloodthirsty race had studied blood far more deeply than ordinary people!

Just when Ning Fan could barely withstand the erosion of the Saint’s Blood in his body, his Ancient Demon Bloodline began to retaliate! The runes of the Symbol of Devil Raising began to appear all over Ning Fan’s body, covering him in mysterious patterns, giving him a sinister appearance.

The suppressed demonic nature erupted like a volcano at this moment. His eyes gradually turned crimson, as if he wanted to consume people; the demonic blood inside him started boiling, like lava erupting from that volcano!

Devour, devour, devour!

The demon blood began to forcibly devour the minuscule Saint’s Blood. No matter how noble the Saints were, as long as they were enemies, he would strip off their skin, crush their bones, and devour their blood!

This was madness, wild intent, demonic resurrection!

As the blood boiled to the extreme heat, it suddenly turned icy cold, as cold as the hell under the Eight Cold!

At this moment, the boiling of the demon blood underwent an extreme transformation!

At this moment, Ning Fan’s body temperature began to drop, his swelling body started to return to normal, but his consciousness became increasingly blurred, the madness in his mind multiplied countless times!

Rend the heavens!

Tread upon the earth!

Sweep away all enemies!

With this ravaged blood, shatter the filthy world, and unleash demonic thoughts!

Roar!

With a demonic roar from Ning Fan that reached the heavens, his body emitted a massive amount of blood steam, and just from that strand of Saint’s Blood, he broke through the restraint within him and stepped into the Blood Absorption Realm of the First Stage Ancestral Regression!

Blood, he wanted more blood!

Ning Fan’s consciousness became more and more blurred, he roughly grabbed the stem of the Ghost Flower, biting down fiercely, gulping the sap into his stomach.

Sweet, so sweet, the taste of this blood!

Ning Fan’s face bore a cruel and bloodthirsty smile, and the rather severe injuries on his body began to heal at a visibly fast pace with the forced absorption of the Saint’s Blood!

Thirty breaths!

It only took thirty breaths for Ning Fan’s injuries to be completely healed! Such a miraculous recovery speed was heaven-defying! Even all of Ning Fan’s recovery methods combined paled in comparison to the injury recovery speed currently being unleashed!

"Hiss! What did this kid do! How did he turn into this state! Why is his aura so cold it makes me uneasy! And... how did his injuries recover so quickly! No ordinary Quasi-Saint inflicted with such injuries could improve for decades! And that’s because his foundation wasn’t damaged. If it were someone like me with a severely damaged foundation, it would take an age to heal. This kid’s healing speed is terrifying!" Ancestor Leize was beyond stunned, finding it hard to settle his mind for self-healing, entirely captivated by the commotion Ning Fan stirred.

"What is happening to Brother Ning! His aura... has become so cold." Aflo inadvertently met Ning Fan’s merciless gaze and trembled all over.

"Master is... he seems to be undergoing some sort of cultivation..." The Black Evil Sect could discern a bit, but her memories were too fragmented to recall what Ning Fan’s current demeanor indicated.

"Do not worry, everyone. Hero Brother has achieved great fortune and officially reached the first stage of the Ancient Demon Ancestral Technique. Incredible! In the Real Realms, few ancient demons manage to cultivate this technique. So, this is the blood absorption regeneration, such terrifying recovery power! With injuries as severe as his, he healed in less than thirty breaths! It’s said that even the ancient True Realm opponents, who wield Saint’s Blood, need countless ages of comprehension to reach the first stage. Hero Brother must have spent innumerable eras grasping this technique, and it was only through his previous battle with the Scarlet Bandit that he achieved enlightenment and broke through the bottleneck..." the Slime Monster explained.

Little did she know, Ning Fan had not spent endless ages to comprehend the Ancestral Regression Technique. Upon hearing of its existence, he immediately mastered it.

Is it luck? Yes but no.

It’s called luck because there was precisely Saint’s Blood here, and by chance, the Netherworld Ghost Flower helped dilute the Saint’s Blood, reducing the difficulty of consuming it alive.

It’s not luck because the principles of the first stage of Ancestral Regression are too similar to the Lifestealer Technique, which Ning Fan had already comprehended to a very high realm; the first stage of Ancestral Regression posed almost no understanding difficulty for him.

For others, the principles of Ancestral Regression may be difficult to understand, but for him, a practitioner of Lifestealer, understanding it was not difficult at all.

"So, this is the power of the first stage of Ancestral Regression, the strength of blood absorption, this technique feels like as long as I kill and drink blood, I can be invincible! The only drawback is that the madness thoughts it generates are too violent. If not for my firm spirit sense, upon activating the blood absorption state, I fear I would be directly consumed by demonic thoughts, transformed into a humanoid killing machine!"

So, this is the true image of the ancient demon!

Simply comprehending the Ancient Demon Annihilation Dao is insufficient; true ancient demons can only become powerful by bathing in blood!

"The principles of the first stage of Ancestral Regression aren’t difficult to understand, but the second stage, that seems to have some degree of difficulty. After all, although the second stage has some similarities to Lifestealer Technique, it also has distinct differences. I wonder if I can use the Saint’s Blood here to leap directly into the second stage of Ancestral Regression..."

Ning Fan started his attempt.

Then, astonishing changes began occurring in his body!

He clearly didn’t actively initiate the Eternal True Body, yet it spontaneously activated!

And then...

The form of the Eternal True Body underwent enormous changes on its original foundation!

Ning Fan employed a demonic path, where the most formidable is the Mu Chi, after all, Mu Chi had opened Divine Status, becoming the Wood Father God, surpassing control positions, surpassing titles.

As such, the trend of his current true self transformation was evolving in the direction of a wooden figure.

The form of the Eternal True Body was no longer the simple golden-armored giant but was evolving into the form of a Golden Armored Tree Demon!

Ning Fan was somewhat confused; he was clearly cultivating the second stage of Ancestral Regression, yet the Eternal True Body transformed unexpectedly. This transformation surprisingly echoed the second stage change of the Eternal True Body! What is going on? He clearly intended to use the Ancient Demon Rampage power of the second stage of Ancestral Regression, yet it seemed like he was on the verge of mastering the second stage of the Eternal True Body...

Is it the same for every ancient demon, or is it... only for someone like him as an Ancient Deity!

Ancestral Regression... Ancestral Regression...

A flash of insight suddenly struck Ning Fan’s mind, as if he comprehended something.

For what ancestors do the ancient demon regress!

In the world, spirits existed first, then Immortal Spirits; among the descendants of Immortal Spirits, there are also clan divisions like ancient demons... perhaps the regression is not to the ancestors of ancient demons but to the ancestors of all life - spirits!

Ancestral Regression seeks to revert the cultivators to spirits, and he... is directly a spirit... the technique used on him might yield significantly different effects than for other ancient demons!

Unbeknownst to Ning Fan, his speculation was remarkably close to the truth.

Ordinary ancient demon Ancestral Regression seeks to manifest the spirit’s form to slay enemies with ordinary-level spirit force.

But Ning Fan is inherently a spirit; his ancestor isn’t an ordinary spirit, but the ancestor of spirits.

At this moment, his transforming true self wasn’t an ordinary tree demon but the form of — the stance of the Ancestral God of Wood!

Ning Fan fortunately became the Wood Father God because the wood-type spirits of this era had perished; otherwise, the position of Wood Father God would definitely not fall to him.

The so-called Wood Father God must be the strongest wood-type spirit of the same era—but that is only true for the same era.

Only the strongest Father God reigning over all eras can be called the Ancestor God!

If Ning Fan fully enters the second stage of Ancestral Regression, his Eternal True Body might evolve towards the form of the Ancestral God of Wood and exert some of the Ancestral God’s power.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t accomplish this.

The madness thoughts generated by the first stage of Ancestral Regression nearly swallowed his rationality. The madness of the second stage is tens of times that of the first; such madness is too terrifying, and his second stage Eternal True Body only changed part of the outline, his entire being was already on the verge of collapse; if he forcibly entered the second stage true self, he would completely lose rationality, be devoured by demonic thoughts, during the rampant insanity, would only know of slaughter. The Ancestor Leize, Little Kitten, and other women before him would all become his indiscriminate slaughter targets...

Thus, Ning Fan did not continue to attempt entering the second stage of Ancestral Regression, not because he couldn’t, but because he wouldn’t dare to act recklessly, fearing harm to those close to him.

He calmed the demonic thoughts within him, withdrew from the incomplete second stage of Ancestral Regression, and retreated from the first stage; all the blood vapor on him vanished.

Seeing Ning Fan calm down safely after causing a big commotion, Ancestor Leize and others were relieved, while only the Slime Monster opened her large muddy mouth widely, unable to close due to overwhelming shock.

"The second stage of Ancestral Regression! Hero Brother definitely stepped into the second stage just now; he clearly just mastered the first stage, yet in the blink of an eye, advanced to the second stage; how is this possible! Looking at the ancient True Realm opponents, not one can achieve such heaven-defying feat, could it be that Hero Brother’s talent actually surpasses all the ancient demons of the True Realm?"

The Slime Monster grew ever more worshipful of Ning Fan!

Her Hero Brother actually has the hope of becoming the first ancient demon in history, who would dare to bully her while she’s beside Hero Brother!

"Younger Brother Ning, what on earth are you..." Ancestor Leize was full of doubt and wanted to ask Ning Fan what he was doing earlier, but then thought it might be Ning Fan’s secret and hesitated to ask.

"Sorry," Ning Fan apologized.

The apology was because he couldn’t be completely honest. The identity of the spirit was too forbidden; if it got out, who knows what chaos it would cause. He kept it from Ancestor Leize for Leize’s own good.

"Hey, why apologize? Everyone has their secrets. When I was nine, I smelled my senior sister’s undershirt and shorts and never told anyone, uh..." Ancestor Leize awkwardly covered his mouth.

He let something slip!

It seemed he had done some shocking things as a child, luckily his senior sister didn’t know, or she might have killed him...

"Senior was indeed...quite naughty as a child," Ning Fan suddenly heard such indecent words and felt awkward, unsure of how to respond.

"Just a joke, just a joke," Ancestor Leize laughed awkwardly.

Ning Fan didn’t really believe it was a joke... However, he didn’t talk further about it to avoid awkwardness for Ancestor Leize.

After healing the Netherworld Ghost Flower and successfully mastering the first stage of the Ancestral Regression Technique, Ning Fan felt quite positive. Even if the real Scarlet Bandit came to kill, he was confident he could compete with her without relying on bewitching techniques.

Unfortunately, it seemed it would take a while before the Scarlet Bandit arrived.

So, with the remaining time, Ning Fan began to work on creating King Ghost Soldier Corpses.

If he could create King Ghost Soldier Corpses before Scarlet Bandit arrived, it would surely give her a big surprise.

To Ning Fan’s delight, since the Netherworld Ghost Flower was absorbing the Underground Saint’s Blood while helping him create ghosts, the success rate of creating ghosts was incredibly high, nearly a hundred percent! The production speed was astonishing as well!

Before long, the King Ghost Soldier Corpses were created! Ning Fan had another great general under his command! If the Scarlet Bandit came rashly, she would definitely be in trouble!

But...there was one thing Ning Fan wasn’t satisfied with.

The created Eternal Corpse Puppet King seemed somewhat...disobedient...

"What’s going on? Aren’t Eternal Ghost Soldiers supposed to absolutely obey their master’s commands? Why is this Corpse Puppet King so resistant to my orders?" Ning Fan frowned.

[This ghost soldier is too strong, your cultivation is insufficient to perfectly control it... To perfectly control it, there’s only one way...] the Netherworld Ghost Flower replied.

"What way?"

[Beat it into submission!]

"This..."

Ning Fan felt a headache coming.

The Corpse Puppet King was a formidable creature of Qi and blood! Before its transformation into a ghost soldier, it wasn’t something the Life-Slaying Sword could easily handle, and now as an Eternal Ghost Soldier, its undying capability was even more formidable. Trying to subdue it with the Life-Slaying Sword was exceptionally difficult...

The Scarlet Bandit was already not far off, Ning Fan didn’t think he could beat the Corpse Puppet King into submission and obedience in such a short time; the Corpse Puppet King wasn’t weak like the Eternal Dragon King of Ten Thousand Saints...

"Never mind, I’ll handle the Corpse Puppet King’s obedience issue when I have time later. Although it’s somewhat resistant to my commands right now, it’s not absolutely disobedient. If I order it to attack Scarlet Bandit, it might not exert itself fully, but it’ll still join the battle," Ning Fan said helplessly.

Closer, closer.

Here, there was no geomagnetic interference, and Ning Fan’s Ice Rain Technique could smoothly sense distant places. He could perceive that the real Scarlet Bandit was already very close.

This time, Scarlet Bandit wasn’t sending lotus seed avatars; her strength was sure to surpass the previous battle and she’d be more wary of bewitching techniques.

But Ning Fan wasn’t in his previously injured state either; this time, he could exert his full power and deploy ghost soldiers, among which was the somewhat defiant Corpse Puppet King.

Eternal Corpse Puppet King, Eternal Soul-Devouring Tree, Eternal Dragon King of Ten Thousand Saints, Eternal Ink Qilin... Plus Ning Fan himself at peak condition, with such a formidable lineup, if he still couldn’t defeat Scarlet Bandit, he would truly be ashamed.

...

Closer, closer!

Scarlet Bandit could sense that Ning Fan and the others were just ahead, right in the place where the previous battle occurred!

This brat is simply arrogant! She refused to believe Ning Fan didn’t know her true self was coming; despite knowing her true self was on the way, he didn’t escape but remained on-site waiting for her. Does he completely disregard her?!

"Do you think you can use the bewitching technique to trick me again? You dog man, you’ll regret it!"

Her charming shout echoed through the heaven and earth. As her voice resounded, she finally appeared within Ning Fan and his companions’ sight!

"Do you know how many years it will take to repair the loss of a lotus seed avatar! You’re dead, dead!"

"Ning Fan! Ning Fan!! Ning Fan!!! I said I’d regain my ground, as you’re a disciple of Yue Kun, you’re probably dreaming of the Pure Land of Bliss as well! Perfect timing! I’ll use the Eight Treasure Scarlet Lotus Karmic Fire of your Yue Kun lineage to send you to the Land of Bliss!"

Scarlet Bandit, in her rage, laughed instead; opening her mouth, she sprayed out billowing flames.

What she sprayed wasn’t flames.

It was...Karma!