Grasping the Evil-Chapter 939: Soul in the Palm
"Start the Second Stage of Dao Man! With the Fragment of Divine Annihilation Shield as protection, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to pass this stage."
With a command from Dao Man Mountain, all scenes between heaven and earth vanished, as if an invisible hand had wiped away everything in the world.
Only endless darkness remained.
In the darkness, Ning Fan floated alone in the air, his gaze slightly focused, "Is it a Divine Skill capable of changing heaven and earth again... The first stage tests the will, but I don’t know what the second stage tests..."
Surrounded by endless darkness, the air felt somewhat damp, accompanied by intermittent dripping sounds coming from the depths of the darkness.
Drip, drip, drip...
The place was dead silent, with only the dripping sound exceptionally clear.
The darkness here was so intense that even Ning Fan’s vision at the Second Realm of Tianren couldn’t penetrate it. Ning Fan tried a few common lighting spells from the cultivation world, but they could only illuminate within ten zhang; beyond that, nothing was visible.
This is the Second Stage of Dao Man...
"The barbarians are the progenitors of nature, the great sect of all domains. Barbarian beings born in mountains and seas, attain the Dao in nature, and their heroic spirits return to the mountains and seas after death, the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas Realm, the beginning of reincarnation in the palm..."
A chanting sound, seemingly from ancient times, suddenly echoed, and at that moment, Ning Fan’s body could no longer remain suspended, becoming lighter and plunging into the darkness below.
"The forbidden force in this place is strong!" Ning Fan felt a slight chill in his heart.
As his body plummeted, he sensed several vague killing intents from all directions. Without hesitation, Ning Fan immediately urged the Fragment of Divine Annihilation Shield, manifesting the shadow of the God-Slaying Giant outside his body.
In the next moment, several massive shadows, mountain-like, collided heavily with the God-Slaying Giant, spreading a strong force that shook heaven and earth!
Boom, boom, boom!
The surroundings were too dark to see what had collided.
Ning Fan’s expression changed; the impact force of those shadows was definitely comparable to the attack of the Eternal Immortal Venerable, with destructive power. Had he not been vigilant and summoned the God-Slaying Giant for protection, he would have been severely injured by those shadows!
This Second Stage of Dao Man is indeed perilous, and not to be underestimated.
The shadows missed their target, roared sky-high, and continued attacking the God-Slaying Giant without harming Ning Fan inside.
Ning Fan kept falling, with the shadows constantly pursuing him, and the darkness around grew thicker the further he fell.
When the darkness reached a certain level of intensity, the shadows dared not pursue Ning Fan any longer, seemingly fearing something and hesitated to come closer.
The surroundings gradually quieted down, and Ning Fan continued to fall, not knowing how long until he finally landed on the ground, finding a foothold.
After he successfully descended, the forbidden force vanished, and the dripping sound became even clearer.
Drip, drip, drip...
Beneath his feet was rock-hard land, and in his ears, the dripping sound fluctuated between near and far.
Ning Fan attempted the lighting spell again, but it only illuminated a zhang or so. The dark aura here was stronger, rejecting any presence of light.
Sensing slightly, it seemed he was the only presence on this dark land, with no other creatures around.
No other creatures didn’t mean no danger. Ning Fan remained vigilant, waiting in place for a long while. Only when his mana subtly dwindled, failing to sustain the consumption of the Fragment of Divine Annihilation Shield, did he tentatively retract the shadow of the God-Slaying Giant.
After retracting the shadow, Ning Fan still faced no attack; the place seemed safe without the aggressive shadows.
This Second Stage of Dao Man differed vastly from his expectations. Ning Fan had no idea how to pass this stage.
"Seventeen days! If you can endure here for seventeen days, you pass. If you can emerge from here, you can also pass!"
"You have the Divine Annihilation Shield to protect you. Even if you can’t emerge from here, enduring seventeen days should be easy. However, if possible, I hope to see you step out of here."
Dao Man Mountain’s voice echoed timely.
This is the way to pass the second stage... Ning Fan pondered slightly.
A moment later, he seemed to have made a decision and began exploring the dark land.
After landing, the place was no longer restricted by the forbidden space; he could use Vertical Golden Light to explore the dark land.
The land seemed vast, and with Ning Fan’s Vertical Golden Light speed, it took a day and night without reaching the edge.
Oddly, the place gave Ning Fan a bizarre feeling, as if no matter how long he walked, a hundred years, a thousand years, he would never reach the end...
Such a feeling was truly strange...
The first day passed without any danger, but on the second day, changes began to appear.
The originally cold ground suddenly gained some warmth, like human body temperature. On the ground, some ravines began to form.
Between heaven and earth, a mysterious force gradually emerged. Upon its appearance, Ning Fan’s body started to show signs of aging unexpectedly.
It wasn’t aging from losing vitality but aging in the Dao; Ning Fan’s Fellow Daoist began aging, moving step by step towards death!
"This power... it’s the Power of Reincarnation!" Ning Fan’s eyes trembled.
Indeed, the power was clearly the Power of Reincarnation, yet different from any he had encountered before.
The Power of Reincarnation is a force cultivable by third-step masters. Ning Fan had seen the Power of Reincarnation of the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign, capable of erasing memories and annihilating all existence—a terrifying force.
However, not all Power of Reincarnation erases memories. Ning Fan had seen Senluo’s Power of Reincarnation; though not an Immortal Emperor, it could use reincarnation to battle the Eastern Heavenly Emperors, strong in warfare.
Ning Fan had seen the ninth layer of Tianque’s gray moon, which also contained reincarnation power. The moon’s reincarnation ability seemed to petrify all things.
With growing experience, Ning Fan gradually realized not all Power of Reincarnation was identical.
The Power of Reincarnation in this dark land can gradually disintegrate and collapse his Dao, as if causing aging. This aging is unrelated to vitality and cannot be suppressed by replenishing vitality. Unless possessing strength equivalent to reincarnation, there’s no resisting this aging; even if vitality remains within him, once the Dao is destroyed, Ning Fan will die of old age here.
"To stay here for seventeen days, one must resist the Power of Reincarnation..."
A trace of realization appeared in Ning Fan’s eyes as he explored the place, while also allowing the Calamity Thought Red Glow to cover his entire body.
The only thing that can resist the Power of Reincarnation here is the Calamity Blood Power within him; it’s a power equivalent to reincarnation!
With the protection of Calamity Thought Power, on the second day, the aging force in this place could no longer age Ning Fan even a little.
On the third day, fourth day, fifth day... each day growing stronger, by the sixth day, Ning Fan began struggling against the Power of Reincarnation here, and his body once again showed signs of aging.
More and more ravines appeared on the ground, and for some reason, those ravines began giving Ning Fan a terrifying feeling.
"The sixth day seems to be the limit for this young one... Without the protection of the God-Extinguishing Shield, he could last no more than six days in the second stage, and wouldn’t pass the second stage. With the God-Extinguishing Shield, he can suppress the place with its might, holding out for seventeen days won’t be hard..."
"Back then, with Quasi-Saint Cultivation, I only lasted fourteen days in this second stage and couldn’t reach the end. If not for the Third Generation Barbarian God saving me, this stage would have been my grave..."
Xi Zihua observed the second stage with complicated feelings. Ning Fan, currently a Taicang Calamity Spirit, was someone she wished dead, yet he inherited a Fragment of the Divine Annihilation Shield, became the descendant of the Dao Man Lineage, and gained Dao Barbarian Mountain’s recognition...
The God-Extinguishing Shield is not only a powerful treasure, but also a symbol of identity as a Dao Man descendant. The wielder has the right to enact Slaying Punishment on any one of the Barbarians, even against the Barbarian God if they commit a mistake.
The wielder can suppress the fortune of the Barbarian Clan, which is also crucial, concerning the rise and fall of the Barbarian Clan.
Dao Barbarian Mountain hasn’t told Ning Fan this yet, waiting for him to discover the significance of the God-Extinguishing Shield himself.
"The Power of Reincarnation here will grow stronger over time. The sixth day is already the limit for me to stay here. A few days later, the Power of Reincarnation will become stronger, and I fear I will die here..."
Ning Fan sighed slightly; with his cultivation, crossing the second stage was indeed somewhat forced.
Fortunately he had the protection of the God-Extinguishing Shield, the more he faced crisis, the more he felt the shield’s might.
That fragment of the God-Extinguishing Shield was incredibly intelligent. Once it detected Ning Fan couldn’t resist the Power of Reincarnation here, it transmitted a force to easily block the Power of Reincarnation ten zhang away, preventing it from approaching.
Even without transforming into the God-Slaying Giant, this shield had such power, greatly surprising Ning Fan.
With this treasure, staying here for seventeen days really isn’t hard.
Over six days passed, yet he hadn’t found the edge of the dark land, unable to leave the place. He feared even until the end of seventeen days, he wouldn’t find a way out... Ning Fan thought quietly.
With the God-Extinguishing Shield in place, staying here for seventeen days isn’t hard. Perhaps there’s no need to continue searching this dark land...
Just as this thought arose in Ning Fan’s mind, a voice echoed in his consciousness, like a plea.
"Soul in your palm... find him... find my soul..."
"I am... the sixth fragment... have a soul... after dying, soul returns to the Mountain and Sea..."
"Find my soul... I will be the true... God-Extinguishing Shield... soul in your palm... edge of the hand..."
That voice was surprisingly emitted by the God-Extinguishing Shield.
It wasn’t a sound heard through ears, but a soul sound. Before understanding the Shanhai Curse, Ning Fan couldn’t hear such soul sounds.
But now, he could hear, with his Dao Enlightenment. Once he comprehended the Shanhai Curse, he could communicate with the mountains, seas, and all dead objects within the heavens and earth, as long as the other side was willing.
Be it mountains or seas, as long as there are soul entities, they can hear the other’s voice. This is the natural Dao of the Barbarians.
Yet not every Barbarians can achieve this. Only the Young Master Barbarian of each major Barbarian Clan can practice the Shanhai Curse, and those who can communicate with nature are few even among the Young Master Barbarians.
But Ning Fan could achieve this, truly a prodigy.
The soul sound of the God-Extinguishing Shield pleaded with Ning Fan to retrieve his lost soul. It repeatedly told Ning Fan, ’soul in your palm... edge of the hand...’.
Soul in your palm... edge of the hand... what does this mean? Ning Fan frowned slightly; he didn’t mind helping the God-Extinguishing Shield find its lost soul, but couldn’t understand the shield’s words.
"Soul... right here..." This time, the God-Extinguishing Shield changed its phrasing, Ning Fan finally understood.
The soul of the God-Extinguishing Shield was lost in this dark land!
Anyway, staying here for seventeen days, he decided to search for the soul of the God-Extinguishing Shield, though not knowing the soul’s exact location...
"Soul in your palm... edge of the hand..."
"Soul in your palm... edge of the hand..."
These repeated sentences, the God-Extinguishing Shield lacked spirit awareness, only instinctively emitted soul sounds reminding Ning Fan.
Ning Fan felt helpless; communicating with the God-Extinguishing Shield felt like conversing with a babbling child, extremely taxing.
Even though Barbarians can communicate with mountains and seas, they certainly don’t possess human intellect, different levels entirely...
Ning Fan shook his head; unable to understand, then so be it. First, randomly search this place.
Ning Fan continued to search, another three days swiftly passed.
He had flown in this dark land for nine days, yet by the ninth day, Ning Fan still hadn’t found the soul of the God-Extinguishing Shield, nor reached the edge of this dark land.
Is this dark land truly this vast... for the first time, doubt arose in Ning Fan’s eyes.
He had flown continuously for nine days and nights, yet had a bizarre feeling, as if these three days he’d been circling around the same spot, barely moving far.
When he saw a Mana mark illuminated by approaching Rain Intent in the darkness, he was even more convinced of his idea!
As he moved through this dark land, Ning Fan would occasionally leave Mana marks along the way. Despite progressing straight, after nine days, he saw his first-day Mana mark ahead!
Could he really have been circling in this dark land!
Perhaps this place isn’t vast at all, but there’s some force preventing escape, making it impossible to leave.
After a brief silence, Ning Fan changed direction and flew towards another side. On the eleventh day, he again encountered the marks he left before.
Changing direction once more, on the thirteenth day, he returned to the original spot...
"This child... can’t escape from here..." Dao Barbarian Mountain sighed slightly; without leaving here, he couldn’t find the Shield Soul.
If unable to find the Shield Soul, even gathering all the fragments of the shield wouldn’t restore God’s Extinguishing Shield’s power to its peak...
If this child can’t find the Shield Soul, I’ll have to personally lend a hand... Dao Barbarian Mountain thought darkly.
"This is reincarnation, no matter how you walk, you’ll return to the starting point. Unable to change, that is reincarnation..."
Xi Zihua sighed softly, on the thirteenth day, it seemed Ning Fan couldn’t rely on his strength to escape this place.
Without the Shield Soul, he likely wouldn’t pass the second stage...
His current cultivation can only sustain him for six days here, insufficient for passing; unable to find a way to leave, also unable to pass.
The second stage seems a bit premature for this child...
On the thirteenth day, Ning Fan stopped blindly advancing in the Darkland.
Advancing aimlessly only loops back to the same spot, meaningless.
"Soul in hand... edge of the palm..."
"Soul in hand... edge of the palm..."
The Shield continued repeating those phrases while Ning Fan felt helpless.
The meaning of these words was utterly unclear...
After four more days, he could pass the second stage and might lose the chance to retrieve the Shield Soul...
The reason I’m lost is due to the dark surroundings. What if I remove the darkness here...
"This place remains dark as if crafted intentionally, so as not to let me see clearly some of its details."
"With my current cultivation, I’m not enough to sweep away the darkness here, but if I pay a price, I should manage it briefly."
Determination flashed in Ning Fan’s eyes; retrieving the Shield Soul seemed a great opportunity, worth paying the price.
Suddenly he punched his chest, enduring severe pain, spraying twelve mouthfuls of essence blood, his aura weakened significantly.
Using the power of twelve mouthfuls of essence blood, Ning Fan pointed skyward; black-red Calamity Beast Fire immediately covered the heavens, burning fiercely, lighting and thunder booming.
Calamity Beast Fire alone wasn’t enough to illuminate the darkness here, as Ning Fan tried multiple times before. But now infused with the essence blood’s power, it achieved this.
The towering flames gradually tore apart the darkness, and by firelight, Ning Fan finally saw the true visage of the dark earth, shock gripping his heart.
Where he stood wasn’t the earth at all, but a colossal hand, vast as an entire continent!
The wrist of this gigantic hand seemed severed by some sharp tool, still bleeding even after countless ages, its blood lost of spirit yet flowing endlessly.
The dripping sounds Ning Fan heard earlier turned out to be the bleeding sounds from this severed hand!
The intersecting ravines were indeed its palm lines.
The swirling Power of Reincarnation here flowed out from its palm lines!
Ning Fan’s cultivation speed was swift; despite the giant palm’s vastness, by right, he should escape its range in just a few breaths.
Yet no matter how far he flew, he’d never see the palm edge; as if it grew larger with his flight, unescapable, like he was merely a fly, this entrapping hand his entire world...
Whose severed hand is this!
With just a severed hand, it imprisons Ning Fan, whose cultivation nears Immortal Venerable; truly terrifying power!
Ning Fan carefully sensed and finally detected a faint trace of Dao Barbarian Mountain’s aura from the palm.
Perhaps... this severed hand is Dao Barbarian Mountain’s hand... then this spilling blood is Saint’s blood!
Unfortunately, this blood seems to have lost its spirit, useless...
"Soul in hand... edge of the palm..."
The Shield’s foolish voice rang again; this time, Ning Fan understood.
The Shield Soul must be at the edge of the severed palm; if he escapes this palm prison, he can surely find it!
But trapped in the palm, how to break free, how to escape...
The brightness of Calamity Beast Fire was gradually devoured by darkness, plunging the world back into abyss.
In darkness, Ning Fan closed his eyes for the first time; useless eyes need not be used.
This place’s inescapability is orchestrated by a Saint; to escape requires utmost effort, only a slim chance...
On the fourteenth day, Ning Fan remained still like a statue.
On the fifteenth day, Ning Fan still did not move.
On the sixteenth day, he made no actions.
He silently calculated within, the Momentum Character Secret pushed to its limit, causing heaven and earth to move for him.
"It’s already been sixteen days... has this child still not given up..." Xi Zihua slightly shook her head, she no longer held any hope for Ning Fan to walk out of this place.
On the seventeenth day, Ning Fan finally opened his eyes, his expression resolute, as if he had made a decision.
"Split!"
Ning Fan uttered a single word, and surprisingly, an exact replica of himself walked out from within his body.
This other Ning Fan was engulfed in overwhelming black energy, filled with the power of the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor. He had six wings on his back, horns on his head, and was clad in scale armor; it was a body double formed from Ning Fan’s lifetime of demonic cultivation.
Though Ning Fan rarely used clone-type Divine Skills, it didn’t mean he couldn’t; on the contrary, since the Harmonious Spirit stage, he has been capable of dividing himself, previously splitting into White Fan and Ning.
At this moment, he split out the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor avatar naturally to deal with the current situation.
The Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor avatar, as soon as it appeared, didn’t speak much, immediately transforming into a magical light, accelerating towards the east, intending to fly out of the boundary of the broken palm.
"Split again!"
Ning Fan used another Divine Skill, splitting out the Ancient God Avatar, which carried a Rain Intent, radiating divine light, and as soon as it appeared, it flew towards the west.
"Appear, ancient demons avatar!"
Another Ning Fan in black robes, with runes on his face, emerged from his body, with a faint hint of purple on the black robe, revealing Ning Fan’s ancient demons avatar.
As soon as the ancient demons avatar appeared, it directly transformed into a Fu Li2 demon butterfly, accelerating towards the north.
Consecutively splitting out the avatars of Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor, Ancient God, and ancient demons was greatly burdensome for Ning Fan, but it was not over yet.
Ning Fan took a deep breath, yet again splitting out a body double shrouded in red glow reaching the sky, this body double being his Calamity Spirit Avatar, and also the strongest among his four main avatars!
As soon as the Calamity Spirit Avatar appeared, it hurriedly flew southward. In four directions, each clone was dashing swiftly.
Ning Fan’s main body, after splitting out the four main avatars, seemed to have lost all his cultivations, standing like a mortal in the same spot, yet his eyes opened, emitting an azure glow, seemingly plotting something.
"Does this child think that by splitting out four avatars, he can escape from the confines of my Broken Palm..." Dao Barbarian Mountain shook his head in slight disappointment.
If Ning Fan only had this level of Divine Skill, he wouldn’t be able to walk out of this place. He originally thought Ning Fan had devised a way to escape after planning for so many days. Unexpectedly, after waiting for days, he only got to see the Clone Technique...
The four avatars each rushed in different directions, yet they could not fly out of the boundary of the broken palm. This broken palm was boundless...
"Split!"
Ning Fan shouted another word, and all four main avatars split further, each splitting into two, two into four... In an instant, there were millions of clones flying in countless directions.
Becoming a Millionfold Incarnation is considered an unparalleled divine ability for lower realm practitioners, but at his level of cultivation, performing it wasn’t difficult.
"Millionfold Incarnation, huh... With just a million clones, one cannot walk out of this place... Even if it were a hundred billion incarnations, the result would be the same," Dao Barbarian Mountain shook his head and said.
But the next moment, Dao Barbarian Mountain’s gaze suddenly shook, having realized something astonishing.
At this moment, Ning Fan’s million clones suddenly took a crazed action, each raising a finger, pressing it towards the four directions of the broken palm.
Each Ning Fan was employing the Heaven Sealing Technique, with a million Ning Fans acting simultaneously, obviously intending to seal Dao Barbarian Mountain’s broken palm with the Heaven Sealing Art!
"This is the Cycle-Fixing Technique of the Hunkun Holy Sect! No... it’s not the true Cycle-Fixing Technique, this technique only resembles it and lacks the power to seal the cycle..."
Dao Barbarian Mountain narrowed his eyes; he realized he had underestimated Ning Fan from the beginning.
Although this technique wasn’t truly the Cycle-Fixing Technique of the Hunkun Holy Sect, it was quite remarkable, and with a million Ning Fan’s performing it, it might well seal the broken palm for a brief moment...
Each of Ning Fan’s million splits took position in a way that secretly formed a Formation, connecting each other’s Heaven Sealing Art as if it were a Formation of its own, increasingly enhancing its power.
Without this meticulous arrangement, Ning Fan’s cultivation would never have been sufficient to seal even for a moment a Saint’s palm, despite this being just a palm that has existed for countless years, devoid of spiritual intellect!
This child’s understanding of Formations must be exceedingly profound... An ordinary Eternal Immortal Venerable could absolutely not stop the broken palm, even for a fleeting moment. Only this child could...
"Seal!"
As Ning Fan shouted a single word, the millionfold Heaven Sealing Art was pushed to the very extreme!
At this moment, Ning Fan forcefully exerted the technique, sealing the broken palm for a brief instant, albeit suffering severe backlash.
Each clone, unable to withstand such backlash, collapsed one after another, and the cultivations gradually returned to Ning Fan’s main body, yet the injuries also returned; causing Ning Fan’s body to suffer multiple wounds as if collapsing.
Fortunately, the God-Extinguishing Shield inherently carried Immortal Power, upon detecting Ning Fan’s injury, it automatically protected Ning Fan, ensuring his soul essence remained unlimited, his physical defense intact.
If not for this, Ning Fan’s actions to forcibly seal the Saint’s broken palm would have easily destroyed half of his physical body due to the backlash.
The million avatars collapsed, the cultivations returned, and Ning Fan did not pause to wipe the blood at the corner of his mouth, directly transforming into a golden light, choosing a certain direction, vertically flying out.
In the fraction of a second before the broken palm regained its mobility, Ning Fan fled out of its confinement and, in that direction towards the boundary, saw a trace of the soul.
It was a barely visible Shield Soul, illusory, yet incomparably bright, like the most resplendent stars, even in this darkness, its brilliance was unassailable!
This, was the soul of the God-Extinguishing Shield!
Ning Fan had a premonition that once acquiring this soul, it could cause the God-Extinguishing Shield to undergo a certain qualitative transformation...
"This child, with less than Immortal Venerable’s cultivation level, actually walked out from the Dao Barbarian’s broken palm!" Xi Zihua was shocked, unable to close her mouth.
Even with her Quasi-Saint Cultivation, she could not escape the incarceration of Dao Barbarian’s broken palm, yet Ning Fan accomplished it!
He did not spare himself severe injury, just to seal the broken palm for an instant... This child’s Divine Skills, unfathomable; his ruthless decisiveness, utterly unexpected.
Truly a terrifying junior... (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote on Qidian (qidian.com) with recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)
