The Zifu's Net

Chapter 67: A Zifu Disciple

“Kill me.”

“I won’t let you off even as a ghost.”

“Ah.”

“No, no, no.”

Standing within the great formation of endless black mist, Ji Ning could faintly hear these voices from every direction, as if countless people were suffering terrible torment. His heart clenched. They’re buying up massive amounts of slaves, even controlling tribal chieftains to start wars just to get more slaves... what in the world are they doing?

“No matter what, I have to break out first.” Ji Ning’s gaze was grave as he looked around. Swoosh. He darted forward, covering over a li in a single burst. Then he turned, running, retreating, leaping... He moved swiftly through the mist-shrouded formation for a good while, but no matter where he went, the black mist and chilling Yin energy remained unchanged before him.

“Not good.” Ji Ning’s expression shifted. “This isn’t an ordinary maze formation. I’ve been moving at top speed and constantly changing direction, yet the formation remains perfectly stable. The one controlling this formation probably isn’t a Xiantian lifeform.”

Over the past month of tracking, Ji Ning had been dividing his attention to study the Nine Volumes of Formations, and he had gained some insights. Although he couldn’t easily break the formation before him, he could still tell... that this was far beyond simple formations like the Yin-Yang Dual Qi Formation. This was a rather profound and mysterious formation. The formation-flag treasures necessary to support such a formation could be considered graded treasures.

Graded treasures. Xiantian lifeforms could not bind them.

“A Wanxiang Adept-level figure wouldn’t be so petty as to do things in a place like Mount Yan. Most likely... the one who set up this formation is a Zifu Disciple. A Zifu Disciple skilled in using poison.” Ji Ning made a quick judgment based on what he had encountered.

...

“Human child, here I come!” A piercing laugh echoed through the endless black mist.

Ji Ning stood rooted to the spot. Around his body, three water-lotus leaves and three fire-lotus leaves appeared, slowly beginning to revolve around him in opposite directions...

“Hahaha!” The sinister laughter reverberated.

Swoosh!

A shadow suddenly shot out from the black mist, charging straight at Ji Ning. But when the shadow saw Ji Ning protected within the swirling Water-Fire Lotus leaves, its speed faltered for an instant.

“Hmph.” A fierce light flashed through Ji Ning’s eyes. He lunged forward, his Northsea sword transforming into a streak of blazing light as he executed ‘Lightning Flash’, cleaving the shadow cleanly in two.

Whoosh~~

The shadow instantly dissolved into mist, drifting backward before coalescing into a strange beast. The beast was barely visible, flickering in and out of view within the black fog.

“This isn’t some human child! It’s a human Xiantian lifeform who has been cultivating for who knows how many years!” A grating voice emerged from the mist, carrying far into the distance. “This human probably broke through to Xiantian while still a teenager, which is why he looks so young. And he has a protective lotus... that lotus might be a magic treasure.”

From another distant point within the mist, a cold voice rang out: “If it’s not a Zifu Disciple, it’s a trivial matter. Just kill him.”

“Leave it to me.” The indistinct beast hidden within the mist spoke directly.

Ji Ning’s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. ‘If it’s not a Zifu Disciple, it’s a trivial matter’... saying something like that, it was very likely that this great formation was indeed set up by a Zifu Disciple! The one who had just attacked was merely a demon beast, probably a tamed beast under that Zifu Disciple’s command.

“My master says,” the beast within the mist slowly shifted its position, appearing here one moment and there the next, “when traveling outside, the smaller a human looks, the more troublesome they are. It seems those words are true... Unfortunately for you, you’ve met me!”

Ji Ning stood calmly.

Once a cultivator crossed into the Xiantian lifeform realm, they were no longer mortal; their appearance would hardly change. Only when they neared the end of their lifespan would they rapidly age. Thus, an old Xiantian lifeform was almost always over a hundred years old. Someone like Ji Yichuan, who had first become famous throughout Mount Yan, then ventured out for many years of adventure before returning with his wife, now nearly fifty, still looked as young as he had in his youth. If a Xiantian lifeform looked like a mere child, it meant they had broken through to Xiantian while still a child.

The younger one appeared, the more dangerous they were.

Some Immortals might even retain the appearance of a child.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three black beams of light shot toward Ji Ning. However, when they struck the rotating Water-Fire lotus petals protecting him, they could barely penetrate the first layer before being blocked by the second.

A massive dark shadow also charged out from the mist, a huge claw swiping at Ji Ning’s head.

Clang! Ji Ning’s sword-light flashed, blocking the claw, and he himself dodged to the side.

“Hmm?” Ji Ning frowned as he looked. The creature before him was a strange beast resembling a leopard, yet he couldn’t identify it at a glance. There were so many mixed bloodlines among demon beasts that strange hybrids often appeared. This one was similar to a Huan Beast, but its body was more slender. The strange beast stared at Ji Ning, its tail swishing back and forth. The tail had rings of black bone spikes, and a lash from it would be no less devastating than a magic treasure whip striking a human body.

Ji Ning’s pupils contracted. He moved, becoming a blur.

Windwing Evasion!

Swoosh!

He was as fast as lightning, charging straight at the strange beast. The great demon’s claws swept toward him.

“Dripping Water Pierces Stone!” A watery streak of sword-light flashed, vanishing in an instant. It looked like a single drop of water falling. The great demon beast crashed to the ground with its own momentum, rolling a few times before lying completely still. A large hole had been bored through its head, brain matter and blood seeping out.

Ji Ning landed silently, still holding his twin swords cautiously as he watched his surroundings. He glanced at the demon beast. “Just a late-stage Xiantian great demon!”

“Blackthorn! Blackthorn!” From far away came the shouting of that cold voice. “Did that human kill him? Blackthorn, Blacktho—”

The cold voice soon fell silent.

“He didn’t even know I killed his beast. It seems this creature wasn’t his tamed beast.” Ji Ning understood. Hidden within these great mountains, there wasn’t just a single Zifu Disciple. It was very likely a power lying dormant. But whoever had set up and was controlling this formation was at least at the Zifu Disciple level.

“This is a big problem.” Ji Ning hadn’t expected that there would be such a power lurking on the land of Mount Yan, at the border between the Ji Clan and the Ironwood Clan.

...

Within the great formation, Ji Ning stood protected by his rotating Water-Fire Lotus. In his mind, he was constantly comprehending the art of formations. Although the Nine Volumes of Formations was profound, and some of its diagrams were especially hard to memorize by rote, he had still managed to forcibly imprint the contents of the first volume into his mind. Now, he was dedicating a large portion of his mental energy to deducing it.

“I have to break the formation. Trapped here, I can only let them do whatever they want.” Ji Ning buried himself in his deductions, the sounds of screams and bitter curses still ringing in his ears, as if a hellish dungeon were hidden within the great mountains.

The Western Prefecture of the Ji Clan, Drifting Snow Hall.

Ji Youyang was seated high up on the main dais. Ji Yichuan, Ji Lie, and the others sat in order below, each wearing a heavy expression.

“In the last ten days,” Ji Youyang’s voice was somewhat hoarse, his eyes reddened, “within the territories of our Ji Clan’s five prefectures, multiple Xiantian lifeforms have gone missing! Neither seen alive nor found dead!”

“Prefectural Lord, who in the world is running amok in our Ji Clan’s territory?”

“Find them. Wipe them out.”

“I’ve been going crazy these past few days. My sworn brother... I have to find him, I have to save him.”

Several members of the Ji Clan below couldn’t help but roar.

Ji Lie, who was at the side, glared and rasped, “My son has gone missing too! We must find them, we must!” He then looked up at the Prefectural Lord seated on the dais. “Big brother, how many Xiantian lifeforms have gone missing in total so far? And who is it that’s making a move against our Ji Clan? Have we found the culprit?”

“According to the news just sent from the main clan, a total of twenty-three Xiantian lifeforms have gone missing so far.” Ji Youyang shook his head. “And most are the relatively renowned, more powerful ones! Among the commanders sent out by the five prefectures, five have gone missing. As for their whereabouts... we’ve found nothing at all.”

“This is a provocation against our Ji Clan. They look down on us!” Ji Lie roared.

Ji Youyang’s eyes were bloodshot. “The missing ones are all quite formidable—at least mid-stage Xiantian, some late-stage Xiantian, and even a Xiantian Grandmaster! This is riding on our Ji Clan’s heads, pissing in our faces! We must find the culprit! Even at a great cost, we must annihilate them!”

Ji Yichuan, who was sitting off to the side, spoke up: “We should indeed annihilate them. But from my experience, there is likely a Zifu Disciple sitting at the head of this power.”

“Oh?” Everyone turned to look at Ji Yichuan.

Ji Yichuan had, after all, roamed the outside world. He had even gone as far as the Northsea. His horizons were different from the others.

Ji Yichuan continued, “There are two possibilities. The first is that it’s a wandering tribe—a tribe that lost its own city and was uprooted, with no stable foundation. But the remaining strength of this tribe is considerable, so they want to stir up a war here in Mount Yan to seize a city.”

A city meant territory. Only with a city did a tribe have a true foundation.

“The second possibility is that it’s a fleeing cultivator. Some evil cultivators use souls and corpses to refine evil spells and techniques. They capture Xiantian lifeforms because their souls are stronger and more useful for these spells.” Ji Yichuan spoke. “Furthermore, regarding these Xiantian disappearances,” he added, “according to our Ji Clan’s intelligence, it’s not just our clan. The neighboring Ironwood Clan and the Riverside Clan have also had Xiantian lifeforms go missing. We just don’t know their exact numbers. For them to act so brazenly, this power that has come to Mount Yan is not weak. We must take revenge, and we must rescue the missing Xiantian lifeforms. But we cannot act rashly. First, we must find out the enemy’s true strength, then make a plan to eradicate them in a single, decisive strike.”

The hall fell silent.