Longing, Raindrops Form Threads

Dongzi Qi had aimed straight for the Ji Clan’s vital point, and he was right. Ji Ning was indeed the future pillar of the Ji Clan! Among all the strong experts of the Ji Clan… even if Ji Jiuhuo and Granny Shadow themselves were to die, they would not wish for Ji Ning to die!

“Ji Jiuhuo, I advise you to obediently hand over the vassal token.” Dongzi Qi frowned and barked.

“Our Ji Clan is indeed weak, and so we are willing to gift the mine to you, taking not a single piece for ourselves. But to forcefully demand our vassal token… that is far too much bullying! The vassal token is the very foundation of our Ji Clan. How could our Ji Clan possibly—” Ji Jiuhuo’s words suddenly caught in his throat. His expression changed as he couldn’t help but look down at the ground.

The ground was trembling slightly.

Among the five men standing far off in the distance, a glint flashed through the grey-robed man’s eyes. His internal Ki had already begun to surge violently into the earth. By the time the Zifu Disciples of the Ji Clan sensed it, the spell had already been cast!

“Boom!”

Suddenly, thick, wood-green vines erupted from the ground. The countless vines writhed madly, their surfaces shimmering with dense green light. The thin tendrils of the vines twisted and tangled around each other like tough ropes. They had sprung up abruptly from the ground beneath Ji Ning’s feet, and in an instant, they had completely wrapped around him!

Fast!

Completely without warning!

“What?!” Ji Jiuhuo, Granny Shadow, and the others all changed expression drastically. In the blink of an eye, the Ji Ning who had been standing beside them was now completely surrounded and bound by countless writhing vines.

“Save Ji Ning!” Granny Shadow shouted.

“Too late!” Dongzi Qi, standing far off, let out a loud laugh.

Boom!

The countless massive vines binding Ji Ning gave a savage yank, dragging him down into the earth. A huge hole was torn open in the ground as Ji Ning and those vines were pulled deep underground.

“You Snowdragon Mountain bastards…” Ji Jiuhuo’s face twisted with fury.

“Release my son!” Ji Yichuan was frantic as well.

Every single member of the Ji Clan wanted to save Ji Ning, but the vines had burst forth, bound him, and then dragged him deep within the earth. They had no idea how to even begin to rescue him.

“Hahaha…” Dongzi Qi laughed arrogantly, turning his head to look at the grey-robed man beside him. “Woodsi, capture him and bring him here—” Dongzi Qi’s expression suddenly changed. He could see that beads of sweat were popping out on his junior apprentice-brother’s forehead. He was clearly burning all the Ki he could in a desperate struggle.

“That Ji Ning is breaking my spell…” The grey-robed man’s eyes were bloodshot as he poured every ounce of his Ki into the vines.

…

Deep underground.

Thousands of wood-green vines from a single sprouted seed were wrapped tightly around Ji Ning. But within the cocoon of vines, a Water-Fire Lotus was slowly rotating around Ji Ning’s body, its leaves spinning endlessly to support the crushing grip of the vines, grinding and shredding them even as they continuously regrew.

“Immortal cultivators really do have plenty of tricks up their sleeves. This one wasn’t in the intelligence reports. I wonder which member of the Snowdragon Mountain Yan Mountain Branch is responsible.” Ji Ning had been ambushed so quickly that he hadn’t had a chance to break free before being dragged underground. The space within the vines was far too small to even use the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation.

His first move had been to unleash the Water-Fire Lotus.

“Hua, hua, hua…” The Water-Fire Lotus revolved slowly, shredding the delicate tendrils that tried to bind him into powder. It had been nearly five years since his battle with Beizi Shan. In these five years, Ji Ning’s insights into the Dao had grown by leaps and bounds.

If, in the earliest days, he had only comprehended a single thread of a True Meaning, he had now continuously comprehended thread after thread.

Countless threads… gathering together and naturally growing thicker and thicker.

Especially now that he was at Serpentwing Lake, where he could almost enter into Unity with Heaven and Earth at will… his level of enlightenment was already extremely high. This was actually a phenomenon that only occurred when an Immortal cultivator had reached extremely lofty heights, allowing them to merge with Heaven and Earth at any time, and comprehend the Dao at any time. Naturally, he had comprehended a vast number of threads of the True Meaning.

With this elevated realm…

The Water-Fire Lotus he could now unleash was far more powerful. Even the grinding force of its rotation alone would be enough to instantly reduce a perfect Xiantian cultivator to mincemeat.

“Northsea Swords.” Ji Ning gripped one of the Northsea Swords in each hand as he floated within the Water-Fire Lotus.

“Longing! Raindrops form threads!”

Ji Ning murmured softly to himself.

Every time he used this technique, he could not help but think of his mother. This technique was a move he had comprehended from his endless longing for her… It was the longing of raindrops for each other that formed their connecting threads! Among all the techniques Ji Ning had created in the past five years through his comprehension of the Dao, this was the most powerful.

This move was filled with boundless, intense longing. It was born from the ‘Dripping Sutra’, yet it had far surpassed it.

“Hua—”

Ji Ning’s two Northsea Swords lashed out simultaneously, piercing through the Water-Fire Lotus. The Water-Fire Lotus parted like a dream, offering no resistance to his swords. His swords moved like a mother’s gentle touch, filled with endless longing… attracting a massive tide of natural power that converged onto both blades.

Even looking at a sword-art like this was enough to make one’s heart ache, to feel the deep, inescapable attachment.

“Chi, chi, chi…” A large number of the vines were severed. Even though they were tough and resilient, they were still chopped apart. Faced with Ji Ning’s most powerful close-combat sword, the Zifu Disciple Woodsi’s spell could not hold him. The truth was twofold: first, Ji Ning’s sword-art had already far surpassed that of ordinary Zifu Disciples, and there were many Wanxiang Adepts who were likely inferior to him. Second, Ji Ning’s Fiendgod body was far too powerful, comparable to an early-stage Fiendgod Body Refining Zifu Disciple. With such raw strength and such a powerful sword-art, how could a single spell possibly trap him?

Sword-light danced, severing the countless writhing, twisting vines. Ji Ning rode the sword-light as it shot upwards, bursting through the soil and surging back into the open air.

…

“Boom!”

The Ji Clan clansmen were staring anxiously at the hole left by the vines as they retreated back into the earth, when suddenly, several dozen zhang away, the surface of the ground exploded with a massive crash. A beam of sword-light shot into the sky, revealing a beast-pelt-clad youth wielding two swords, a Water-Fire Lotus revolving around his body. He landed softly on the ground.

“Impossible!” Dongzi Qi’s expression changed drastically. He knew his own junior apprentice-brother’s skills better than anyone. Breaking free from that sneak attack spell of his… was incredibly hard. Even Dongzi Qi himself would find it very difficult.

“That Ji Ning broke free?” The burly man behind Dongzi Qi stared, his eyes wide, and growled, “How is that possible? I’m a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and even when I was trapped by Senior Apprentice-Brother Woodsi’s spell, I couldn’t struggle free.”

This ‘Ju San’ junior apprentice-brother was the one among the five who had only recently opened his Zifu.

He was merely an early-stage Zifu Disciple. However, he was a Fiendgod Body Refiner! As an early-stage Fiendgod Body Refining Zifu Disciple… his combat power was similarly astonishing. Others could hurt him all they wanted, but they would be fine. If he hurt someone else just once, they were dead. That was the advantage of the Fiendgod Body Refining path. If he were a late-stage Fiendgod Body Refining Zifu, even Dongzi Qi would have to address him as ‘senior apprentice-brother’.

“He broke it?”

“How old is he?”

“Senior Apprentice-Brother Woodsi’s Evergreen Vine Art… was broken just like that?” The green-haired male and female pair were both staring in disbelief.

Among the five, Senior Apprentice-Brother Woodsi’s status was second only to Dongzi Qi’s. That was because his strength was terrifying, and his ‘Evergreen Vine Art’ had long earned the admiration of his fellow apprentices for its ability to launch surprise attacks. The binding strength of the green vines was immense. Even with the enormous power of an early-stage Fiendgod Body Refining Zifu Disciple, they could not break free.

Now, it had been broken by a sixteen-year-old boy. Even if he was the most monstrous of talents, this was too…

How could they possibly know that Ji Ning’s raw strength was already on par with their own Ju San, and that in terms of the realm of his sword-art, he surpassed that same Ju San by countless levels!

…

“Ji Ning.”

“Ji Ning.” Ji Jiuhuo, Ji Liuzhen, Granny Shadow, and the other Ji Clan members all looked at Ji Ning with pleasant surprise. At the same time, seeing the shocked and disbelieving expressions on the faces of the five Snowdragon Mountain Zifu Disciples, they felt a surge of exhilaration! They could not help but feel shocked at Ji Ning’s strength themselves. Ji Jiuhuo narrowed his eyes and sighed inwardly. He found himself more and more unable to see through this boy.

The Water-Fire Lotus around Ji Ning vanished, and he walked directly over.

“Ji Ning!” A hoarse voice rang out.

Ji Ning turned his head to look.

Not far away, the grey-robed man standing beside Dongzi Qi, his face pale, was staring fixedly at Ji Ning. “You… that sword technique you used. What is it called?”

“Longing,” Ji Ning said softly. “Raindrops Form Threads.”

“Raindrops Form Threads?” The grey-robed man stared, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Is ‘Raindrops Form Threads’ from your Ji Clan’s Dripping Sutra supposed to have that much power?” He was also very familiar with the nine sword-arts of the Dripping Sutra.

“There are many more things you don’t know.” Ji Ning gave a cold snort, but did not argue further.

This sword technique was born from the Dripping Sutra, but it was no longer the same ‘Raindrops Form Threads’ of the past.