The Winged Serpent's Wrath

Ji Ning gazed at the distant vermilion serpent, murmuring to himself, “Completely blood-red, with bright silver scales on its belly, a vertical red pupil… Eh? It actually has a pair of claws?”

“Hua… hua… hua…” The vermilion serpent slithered slowly, its massive serpentine head looking down at Ji Ning from above. Its inborn pride made it utterly disregard this human youth before it. Based on its experience, youths like this from the tribes were extremely frail. Even here in the Ji Clan’s lair, such a lad couldn’t be that strong.

Ji Ning, however, let out a soft snort.

The breath within his chest burst forth through his nose, forming two visible streams of white vapor. His entire body faintly glowed red as a powerful aura naturally radiated from him. The distant vermilion serpent was startled; it could sense a terrifying aura from that human youth, one that was in no way inferior to its own.

“I haven’t gotten my Dripping Sutra down well enough recently. I might as well use you to practice my sword,” Ji Ning said. With a shua, he darted across several dozen meters, his sword transforming into a hazy, indistinct streak of light thrusting toward the vermilion serpent.

The two massive claws on the serpent’s chest and abdomen curved as they swiped at Ji Ning.

“Chi! Chi! Chi!” The sword-light transformed into a mist, flashing hundreds of times. Every single strike landed on the vermilion serpent’s body. The serpent only dodged the three blows aimed at its vitals, taking the rest head-on. They only left a few white specks on its scales. This made the serpent feel a bit of contempt for the human youth.

“Woo——”

A strange, whistling sound rang out as Ji Ning’s sword sliced through the air. In an instant, it cut across the vermilion serpent’s chest, ripping open a massive wound nearly half a zhang long. Scales shattered, flesh rolled out from the gash, and deep red blood sprayed out directly.

“ROAR!” The vermilion serpent was greatly alarmed. How had the youth suddenly become this powerful?

…

Ji Ning was no longer the inexperienced greenhorn who had fought the Howling Moon Wolf. Long years of battling demonic beasts had given him a wealth of experience. In truth, he was only using about fifty percent of his strength right now. However, because his Windshadow Steps and Dripping Sutra were being employed with greater subtlety, he was completely on top.

One moment, Ji Ning would use a technique suited for group attacks, such as ‘Drizzling Rain’, though it was useless against the vermilion serpent.

The next, he would use the fiercely lethal ‘Silk Rain Forms Threads’, the very move which had left that huge wound on the serpent.

Then he would use the penetrating ‘Dripping Water Pierces Stone’.

Then, while fending off the enraged serpent, he would use ‘Endless Flowing Waters’.

The Dripping Sutra consisted of nine moves.

They were: Drizzling Rain, Rainstorm Like a Curtain, Connected Curtains of Water, Endless Flowing Waters, Not a Single Leak, Silk Rain Forms Threads, Running Water Never Stales, Running Water Is Merciless, and Dripping Water Pierces Stone.

Some were offensive, some defensive.

Even the attacking moves contained elements of defense. Its profound depth left Ji Ning astonished and utterly captivated. He hadn’t even reached ‘Minor Mastery’ yet. His father, Ji Yichuan, had long since reached ‘Grand Mastery’, yet he still spent time pondering the Dripping Sutra. The reason was that the more you studied the Dripping Sutra, the more inexhaustible its artistry became.

“‘Endless Flowing Waters’… it should flow like this, freely and effortlessly,” Ji Ning mused, gaining a sudden insight into his sword technique while being pressed by the Fiendgod-blooded beast.

But the vermilion serpent was enraged!

Could it not see that this human youth was using it for sword practice? It already had many wounds on its body, none of them fatal. The youth, however, had only suffered some light injuries, which healed in the blink of an eye. The youth’s terrifying power made its heart tremble, and it understood that it would probably die at his hands.

But even facing death, its inborn pride wouldn’t allow it to die in such a degrading manner, toyed with until the end.

“ROOOAR~~~” The vermilion serpent suddenly lifted its head, releasing a world-shaking roar. This was a roar of bitter resentment, of unwillingness, a roar of ultimate madness filled with the will to die.

The roar shook the heavens.

Above the inner city of the Ji Clan, amidst the clouds and mist in the sky, the black-winged serpent was concealed within one of the clouds.

“Roar~~”

By the time the roar reached the high altitude, it was already very faint. But the Winged Serpent, being a great demon, had incredibly sharp hearing. Moreover, this was the roar of its most familiar child.

“It’s Crimson! My child!” The Winged Serpent immediately confirmed it. It had long been scanning the inner city from above, constantly searching. From several li away, its vision was sharp enough to make out every building. However, due to the heavy morning fog and the dense iron chains covering the Cage, it simply couldn’t see what was inside.

But now—

As soon as it heard the sound, it immediately confirmed the roar was coming from that Cage!

“It’s there!” The Winged Serpent immediately dove down at extreme speed, the clouds and mist around it still swirling, trying to conceal it as much as possible.

…

Inside the Cage.

Ji Ning heard the mad, bitter roar from the vermilion serpent before him and understood its state of mind. A sword materialized in his left hand as he said, “Since you seek death, then die!”

Bang!

Ji Ning transformed into a gust of wind, closing in on the vermilion serpent.

Sword-light flashed!

Lightning Flash and Tumultuous Fire and Thunder from the Thunderfire Sword Fragments!

Running Water Is Merciless and Dripping Water Pierces Stone from the Dripping Sutra!

“Bang!”

The raised, massive serpentine head went still, its red vertical pupils becoming dull. A deep, perfectly circular hole had been bored clean through its skull. The next moment, its colossal body collapsed, crashing onto the muddy ground of the Cage, making the earth tremble. Blood gushed out in torrents, forming a small crimson stream on the ground.

“Hmm.” Ji Ning looked at the massive corpse of the vermilion serpent, examining the wounds.

He was studying the effects of his various killing moves.

“Tumultuous Fire and Thunder certainly has immense power. It blasted a hole that big in the serpent’s chest and belly, nearly snapping its body in two,” Ji Ning observed, nodding. “Running Water Is Merciless and Lightning Flash both share one quality—speed! The speed of Running Water Is Merciless is more ethereal and unpredictable, while the speed of Lightning Flash is more violent.”

“Dripping Water Pierces Stone has excellent penetrating power. It easily pierced through the serpent demon’s skull,” Ji Ning nodded.

But high above the Cage, a colossal shape shrouded in clouds was diving down. Compared to the Winged Serpent, its child Crimson was nothing more than a tiny loach! The Winged Serpent’s crimson vertical pupils had already pierced through the iron chain net, seeing what lay below. When it saw its poor, blood-red child lying in the mud, a picture of utter misery and lifelessness, a boundless, formless rage instantly flooded its mind.

“My child!”

The Winged Serpent was completely maddened. “Human, pay with your life for my son!”

Whoosh!

The violent air currents caused by its high-speed dive made Ji Ning, inside the Cage, look up.

“What?!” In a single glance, Ji Ning saw, several hundred meters above, a massive serpentine head peering down at him from within the hazy mist. He could also faintly make out enormous, bony wings. It was diving straight down at him… the span of its wings was even wider than the entire Cage.

The endless, murderous intent in the serpent’s crimson vertical pupils shocked Ji Ning to the core, and he instantly understood…

That monster diving down wanted to kill him!

“Not good! Run!”

Ji Ning turned to flee!

But as he turned to run, he realized the narrow passage he’d used to enter was sealed shut. Normally, during a Cage Battle, the passage was closed to prevent anyone from fleeing before the fight! Ji Ning would have to order it opened after his victory… but he had only just killed the vermilion serpent and hadn’t had time to give the order.

Moreover, he had forbidden anyone from watching his Cage Battles. Usually, only his parents were allowed to observe.

After all, his true strength was always kept a secret. His ability to dual-wield, and the fact that he could kill a Houtian-level perfect Godbeast with ordinary swords, were both closely guarded secrets. The outside world believed Ji Ning relied on divine weapons to slay Godbeasts.

“Shua! Shua!” Ji Ning tossed aside the two swords in his hands, instantly materializing two new ones—the Northsea Swords!

“Shatter!”

Ji Ning erupted with all his power, hacking at the thick, densely packed iron chains above him, while urgently shouting, “Father!”

His voice rapidly spread outwards, but the speed of sound was far slower than the Winged Serpent’s diving speed.

“Clang! Clang! Clang!!!” Ji Ning’s Northsea Swords wildly hacked at the iron chain net above. Back then, Ji Yichuan had said, ‘With your strength… if you use the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens and go all out, you should be able to chop through the chains. But the chains are as thick as a net… I’m afraid you’d need ten breaths of time to cut enough chains to escape.’

Ji Ning now had the Northsea Swords, which were incredibly sharp. Clang! Clang! Clang! One chain after another was severed, but they were far too dense. It would probably take a full breath to chop open a space large enough for a person to slip through.

One breath?

At the diving speed of that monster above, it would arrive in less than a second.

“Too late.” As he chopped at the chains, Ji Ning realized this immediately.

The massive, scaled, bony wing above instantly sliced through the air, smashing into the iron chain net. The chains that were so tough and difficult for Ji Ning to break were utterly fragile before this ancient demon with over a thousand years of cultivation. With a series of bang, bang, bang sounds, countless chains snapped and flew wildly in all directions. The scaled wing, however, swept directly toward Ji Ning.

“Pay for my son with your life!” the diving Winged Serpent’s crimson pupils stared at Ji Ning, maddened.

“Dodge!”

Gripping a sword in each hand, Ji Ning dodged while simultaneously executing the same defensive move—Endless Flowing Waters. His sword-light was like water as it met the sweeping scaled wing.

Layer after layer of sword-light connected to intercept the blow, the two swords working in concert, making the defensive torrent seem endless, like layers of silk thread trying to bind and entangle the opponent.

One force defeats a hundred techniques!

“Boom!” The mighty bone wing directly crushed down upon the two Northsea Swords. The overwhelming impact caused Ji Ning’s wrists to snap with a crack! The next moment, the sharp, blade-like edge of the wing sliced directly across Ji Ning’s desperately dodging body, cutting straight through the Golden Dust Garment.

Pfft!

Blood splattered. A left hand, still gripping a Northsea Sword, was sent flying through the air. Ji Ning himself was slammed into the Blackwater Iron wall, his body smashing a human-shaped dent into it as he spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Whoosh!” The Winged Serpent raised its wing again, preparing to strike once more.

“Now!”

Gnashing his teeth, the one-armed Ji Ning fiercely lunged, shooting out of the Cage like a giant grasshopper. His Windshadow Steps were pushed to their absolute limit, turning him into a streak of green smoke as he tried to flee.

“Die!” A gust of wind came howling.

Ji Ning glanced back to see a massive, twisting black phantom sweeping toward him. It was the Winged Serpent’s enormous tail. This lashing strike was even faster and fiercer than the bone wing attack! Wherever it passed, the air exploded, and even the tough rock of Dragon Fort burst apart with loud bangs…

The gigantic, shadowy serpent tail enveloped Ji Ning. His speed was utterly insufficient to evade this strike.

“It’s over!”