A Choice of Survival

A moment later.

Within the Eight-Trigram Blood Dragon Formation, hidden beneath a shroud of faint mist, the phantoms of countless blood-colored dragons coiled and swam, their gazes fixed upon the six figures outside—Ji Ning, Ji Jiu Huo, and the others.

“Ji Ning, don’t charge in.”

“Let me test him.” With a thought from Ji Ning, over seven hundred flying swords materialized around him, hovering gently in the air. Each sword began to glow with a hazy light. Before Ji Ning, a single, supremely sharp sword-ki condensed into being. With another thought, the sword-ki of his Lesser Thousand Sword Formation shot forth.

The ninth layer of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation!

Swish!

A blinding streak of sword-qi plunged into the Eight-Trigram Blood Dragon Formation. The moment it entered, the blood dragons roared and surged forward to meet it. Crackle… The sword-qi managed to disperse a single blood dragon before it, too, was spent. In the blink of an eye, the dispersed dragon reformed once more.

“What?” Ji Ning was stunned. “It could only shatter one dragon? And it recovered instantly?”

Within the formation, Dongzi Qi cast a cold, venomous glance at Ji Ning from afar. His voice was hoarse. “As expected of a genius of the Ji Clan. At just sixteen years of age… you can already break one of my Eight-Trigram Blood Formation’s dragons. But this level of strength is still far from enough.”

“Ji Ning, don’t barge in.” Ji Jiu Huo sent a frantic mental message. “This kind of grand formation is especially effective against Fiendgod Body Refiners. If you charge inside, you’ll be surrounded by all eight dragons. They’ll tear you to pieces!”

“I know.” Ji Ning nodded.

Although it was said that the path of Fiendgod Body Refining overwhelmed Ki Refining… no rule was absolute.

There were also experts within the Ki Refining path. For example, by using the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation, one could fight above their level. Others might raise countless poisonous insects, a sky-blotting swarm that devoured everything in its path. The path of Fiendgod Body Refining was powerful on the whole, but as individuals, there were also dazzling figures among Ki Refiners.

“The six of us will join forces. Let’s see if we can find an opening.” Ji Jiu Huo’s eyes flashed with killing intent.

Flying swords pierced the air!

Poisonous insects danced!

Sword-light wove through the sky!

In an instant, a torrent of various techniques rained down upon the Eight-Trigram Blood Dragon Formation. Inside the formation, Dongzi Qi laughed wildly. “Come on, then!” The eight dragons, which had been calmly swimming about, suddenly turned savage, lunging forward to meet the attacks, blocking one magic treasure after another. Occasionally, a dragon would shatter, but it would quickly reform.

The eight dragons coiled and writhed, surging forward in endless waves, stubbornly holding back the combined assault of the six.

“Cowards of the Ji Clan! If you have the guts, come into my Eight-Trigram Blood Dragon Formation!” Dongzi Qi, standing at the heart of the formation, was ecstatic that he had completely blocked them. “You killed my three junior brothers and junior sister by ganging up on them! If we were to fight with true skill, how could you Ji Clan curs possibly be a match for us? In a real fight, I, Dongzi Qi, could annihilate every single one of you!”

Outside the Eight-Trigram Blood Dragon Formation, the six—Ji Jiu Huo, Granny Shadow, the old servant A Xing, Ji Yichuan, Ji Liuzhen, and Ji Ning—were all shocked by the formation’s power.

“Impressive.” Ji Jiu Huo sent a mental message. “I’ve long heard of Dongzi Qi’s Eight-Trigram Blood Dragon Formation, but I’ve never fought him before. From the looks of it, each of those eight dragons is a match for a Zifu Disciple at the peak of completion. Combined, their power is terrifying… If the six of us want to kill him, we’ll probably have to sacrifice two or three.”

“What venture doesn’t carry risk?” Granny Shadow sent back. “Let’s fight to the death and take down Dongzi Qi!”

“The Ji Clan has only so many Zifu Disciples! Snowdragon Mountain has plenty. Trading our lives for theirs isn’t worth it.” Ji Jiu Huo vetoed the idea.

Ji Ning stared at the distant Eight-Trigram Blood Dragon Formation from afar.

What could be done?

The battle had been raging for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Although Ji Ning only occasionally released a sword-qi attack from his Lesser Thousand Sword Formation, his internal ki was already more than half-depleted.

“Withdraw.” Ji Jiu Huo sent the order. “We’ve been attacking together for this long and haven’t found a single opening. Without taking a great risk, we can’t kill Dongzi Qi. Besides, those creeping vines are spreading rapidly; they’ll soon break out of the maze formation. Let them go this time.”

“Let them go?” Ji Liuzhen’s eyes were filled with disbelief. “Patriarch, if we miss this chance, from now on Dongzi Qi will only move together with other Zifu Disciples. It’ll be even harder to kill him.”

“Foolish.” Ji Jiu Huo sent back an angry message. “Our goal isn’t to kill everyone from Snowdragon Mountain. Our goal is to let the Ji Clan survive for as long as possible! The longer we six can hold out, the better—until the Grand Xia Dynasty’s emissary arrives. Once the contract is signed, we’ll have succeeded. Our lives are far more important than Dongzi Qi’s! If we kill him by sacrificing two or three of us now, and then Snowdragon Mountain sends a whole group of Zifu Disciples to retaliate… what will we use to stall for time then?”

Ji Liuzhen suddenly understood.

Killing was secondary. What truly mattered for the Ji Clan was surviving this tribulation.

They had to hold on until the Grand Xia emissary arrived. Killing a few more Snowdragon Mountain Zifu Disciples was merely a way to slightly relieve future pressure. It wasn’t worth suffering the loss of their own elites for it.

Inside the Eight-Trigram Blood Dragon Formation, Dongzi Qi’s heart was also tense. One could not fight four pairs of fists with two; six Zifu Disciples were attacking him from all sides, each unleashing several techniques, creating an overwhelming barrage. He had barely managed to block them all. If the Ji Clan cultivators started using forbidden arts… he would be in great danger.

“Even if I’m going to die, I’ll drag them down with me.” Dongzi Qi’s eyes gleamed with a hint of madness.

“Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi.” Mu Si, who had been sitting cross-legged with a pale face, suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a delighted expression. “The vines have grown beyond the maze formation!”

Dongzi Qi was momentarily stunned, then burst into wild joy. “We can get out?”

If he could live, of course he didn’t want to fight to the death.

“I can sense the vines’ location. We just have to follow them to break out.” Mu Si quickly stood up. “Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi, maintain the Eight-Trigram Blood Dragon Formation. Let’s go.”

A leaf appeared out of nowhere.

The leaf grew to several zhang in length. Mu Si and Dongzi Qi both stood upon it, while the eight dragons continued to coil around them, as Dongzi Qi kept the formation active.

“Go.”

Whoosh!

The leaf shot forward, following a bizarre, winding path—forward for a moment, then turning left, then retreating. Backwards, backwards, forwards… it was utterly strange. In truth, it was a result of their disoriented sense of direction; though it seemed they were constantly changing course, they were actually drawing closer to the exit of the formation.

Whoosh! Mu Si and Dongzi Qi on the leaf suddenly saw the desolate wilderness and mountain forests outside.

“We’re out!”

“We’re out! We actually made it!” A look of ecstatic surprise appeared on Dongzi Qi and Mu Si’s faces. Being trapped in a maze formation, unable to escape, with the enemy holding all the cards… it was an agonizing experience. To have escaped from certain death and returned to the light was an immense relief.

“Ji Clan!” Dongzi Qi ground his teeth.

Mu Si’s face was equally gloomy. “Three junior apprentice-brothers and junior sisters died here. How can we not take revenge for this?”

“Ji Clan!” Dongzi Qi’s voice boomed across hundreds of li. “Just wait for your entire clan to be exterminated!”

Whoosh!

In an instant, the leaf streaked across the sky and vanished into the distant horizon.

Six figures emerged from the maze formation, precisely the group of Ji Jiu Huo and the others. Ji Jiu Huo turned his head to look at the distant wilderness, where shadowy human figures could be seen. His voice boomed out, “Bianhe Clan, Kou Clan, Blackfire Cult…” The moment he spoke, figures shot into the air one after another from the distance.

“Forgive us, we could not interfere.”

“Brother Jiu Huo, we dare not get involved.”

Voices rang out.

Those figures, riding on their magic treasures, all flew away. The Zifu Disciples from the other powers of Swallow Mountain had also been attracted by the violent fluctuations of natural energy. Although they couldn’t see the battle between the Ji Clan and Snowdragon Mountain, they could guess its nature. In particular, the resentment in Dongzi Qi’s final roar had made the implications clear.

“Alas.” Ji Jiu Huo shook his head as he watched the distant beams of light fly away. “The vein of prime-essence stone involves too much. It will definitely draw even more Zifu Disciples from Snowdragon Mountain here. No wonder the Blackfire Cult, the Bianhe Clan, and the Kou Clan are unwilling to get involved.”

In Swallow Mountain, the Ji Clan, the Blackfire Cult, the Bianhe Clan, and the Kou Clan were allies in the same camp, united against Snowdragon Mountain and the Ironwood Clan.

But their alliance was to resist the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain! This time, however, the prime-essence stone vein would bring the core Zifu Disciples of the Snowdragon Mountain sect itself swarming into Swallow Mountain. Wiping out the Blackfire Cult, the Bianhe Clan, and the Kou Clan would be trivially easy for them. Of course, they didn’t dare to get involved. No matter how great the benefit, they didn’t dare.

“Patriarch, what should we do now?” Ji Liuzhen asked.

Ji Ning and the others all looked toward the clan leader.

Ji Jiu Huo said slowly, “The Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain has suffered a heavy loss this time, with three Zifu Disciples dead. They will definitely send out a broad summons to their fellow sect members, calling in Snowdragon Mountain disciples from other regions to rush here swiftly. With the attraction of the prime-essence stone vein, a large number of Zifu Disciples might arrive and invade Swallow Mountain.”

Ji Ning and the others all nodded.

“The ones they invite will certainly be those closest to Swallow Mountain. At the speed of a Zifu Disciple, they will probably arrive within a day or two.” Ji Jiu Huo continued. “We have two paths.”

“The first path.”

“We go into hiding.” Ji Jiu Huo said, “We make it so that the Zifu Disciples of Snowdragon Mountain can’t find us no matter what. If we can just hide for a few days, the Grand Xia emissary will arrive and we can sign the transfer contract. This path is relatively safe… but it plunges the countless clansmen of the Ji Clan into a deadly crisis.”

“These Zifu Disciples will arrive very quickly—within a day or two. In that short amount of time, the hundreds of thousands of our Ji Clan members can’t possibly flee far.” Ji Jiu Huo sighed. “When this large group of Snowdragon Mountain Zifu Disciples can’t find us, they will vent their fury by slaughtering our Ji Clan members. Or they might just take them as slaves. That is all very likely.”

Ji Ning and the others’ expressions changed.

Hundreds of thousands of clansmen!

“The second path.” Ji Jiu Huo said, “We publicly position ourselves in one place and set up a grand formation. We declare outright, ‘If Snowdragon Mountain has the skill, then come and kill us.’”

“Snowdragon Mountain is a major sect. Such a major sect cares greatly about its reputation. If we set up a grand formation in public and declare our position, when their group of Zifu Disciples arrives, they will do everything in their power to break the formation. They will not stoop to slaughtering a group of mortals, for it would be a great stain on Snowdragon Mountain’s reputation. But if we hide, and they find no one to blame, to show that the dignity of Snowdragon Mountain cannot be infringed upon, they will certainly massacre our Ji Clan members.”

Ji Ning and the others all nodded.

That was right.

A great sect needed its reputation!

If they hid, the great sect would naturally have an excuse to slaughter the Ji Clan, as a warning to all others.

But if they stood up and fought them openly, the enemy would not be able to touch the ordinary mortals.

“Let’s talk it over. Which path do we choose?” Ji Jiu Huo looked at the clansmen.