The Wanxiang's Shadow

The silver-robed man looked puzzled. “A matter of great fortune?”

Dong Fanyu’s face was full of smiles. “To be honest with you, Junior Apprentice-Brother Wu, I’ve come to deliver a great merit to you. In my Yan Mountain territory, we’ve just discovered a large-scale elemental ore mine. The vein spans over four thousand li in circumference…” Dong Fanyu began to lavish praise on the mine.

“An elemental ore mine?” A cool, clear voice rang out. A young man in a magnificent black robe entered from a side door. He had narrow, long eyes and a high, straight nose; he gave off the impression of a venomous serpent. The mere gaze of his eyes made Dong Fanyu’s heart tremble.

Dong Fanyu quickly rose, lowering his voice. “Junior Apprentice-Brother Wu, this is…?”

The silver-robed man had already risen, bowing deeply to the young man. “Master!”

“Master?” Dong Fanyu was startled.

“This is my master, True Immortal Xu,” the silver-robed man said.

The moment his Junior Apprentice-Brother Wu had called out ‘Master,’ Dong Fanyu already knew who this young man was. In the world of Immortal cultivators… one could not judge a person’s power by their appearance. The stronger a cultivator was, the more youthful they often appeared. If one encountered a cultivator who looked like a youth or even a child, one needed to be on guard!

Dong Fanyu was also a disciple of the Snowdragon Mountain Sect, and he knew that his Junior Apprentice-Brother Wu had been taken as a disciple by the core sect disciple, ‘Xu Li.’

Even among sect disciples, there were vast differences.

The Snowdragon Mountain Sect would divide its disciples based on their talent, potential, and strength. Those with the potential to break through to the Wanxiang Adept level, or even to the Primal Daoist level, would naturally receive great cultivation resources. Xu Li was a core disciple, and had broken through to the Wanxiang level over sixty years ago.

“Dong Fanyu pays his respects to True Immortal Xu,” Dong Fanyu said, quickly performing a deep bow.

“You were speaking of an elemental ore mine?” True Immortal Xu said calmly. “Since your Yan Mountain branch discovered the mine, why are you inviting other disciples?”

Dong Fanyu quickly explained the entire situation in detail.

True Immortal Xu gently nodded, a slight smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. “I see. I didn’t expect to encounter such a fortunate opportunity while traveling. Wu Qi, accompany your master to this Yan Mountain. We’ll take control of the elemental ore mine.”

Dong Fanyu was overjoyed. “With the True Immortal there, our success is assured!”

On the surface, he was ecstatic, but in his heart, he was cursing. Discovering an elemental ore mine was a great merit. If his Yan Mountain branch secured it, their contribution would be enormous! Now that a Wanxiang Adept was getting involved… a Wanxiang level cultivator was a high-ranking figure in the Snowdragon Mountain Sect. The highest-ranked members, the Primal Daoists, rarely interfered in such mundane affairs.

If True Immortal Xu personally took the mine, when the spoils were divided back at the sect, he would naturally claim the lion’s share. With a Wanxiang Adept stepping in… the merit of every single Zifu Disciple present would be reduced by more than half!

“Against a mere Ji Clan, why would a Wanxiang Adept be needed?” Dong Fanyu’s heart was bitter, but his face showed ecstatic joy, afraid to reveal even a hint of resentment.

True Immortal Xu glanced at the old man of the Dong clan, dismissing him with a glance. “Let’s go. We’re heading to Yan Mountain.”

With a whoosh, a sailboat appeared beneath their feet. True Immortal Xu, Wu Qi, and Dong Fanyu all boarded. Wu Qi sent a telepathic message to a Zifu Disciple of his own clan: “I’m going to Yan Mountain. I’ll be back in a few days.”

With a swoosh, the white sails of the boat billowed out, and it transformed into a streak of light, tearing through the air at a speed so fast it was shocking.

“So fast.” Dong Fanyu trembled. This was his first time riding a flying treasure controlled by a Wanxiang Adept.

“It will only take an hour to reach Yan Mountain,” True Immortal Xu said calmly.

Swoosh!

The sailboat left a glimmering dot on the distant horizon, then vanished. As for Dong Fanyu… he no longer mentioned inviting other Zifu Disciples. Since a Wanxiang Adept had personally stepped in, what need was there for any Zifu Disciples?

Within an ancient city, in a secluded hall, five palm-sized, finely crafted jade slips emitted a faint green light. Two servants sat in the hall, chatting idly.

Bang! Bang! Two of the jade slips shattered, one right after the other.

Both servants froze. “What was that sound? A rat?”

“Strange.” They both looked around, confused. But then one of them saw the two shattered slips on the altar, and his face went pale. “L-Life…” The other servant, about to grumble, also saw them. “D-Danger…” He too stared in terror at the broken jade slips. “Life talismans!”

“The life talismans have shattered!” The two servants looked at each other, their eyes filled with horror.

“Quick, report to the master!”

They both rushed out frantically. This was a huge deal.

In the blink of an eye, a streak of light shot up into the sky. A triangular-eyed old man stood upon it, madness in his eyes. “Two Zifu Disciples dead?! What in the world is happening in Yan Mountain?”

…

“The life talisman… the life talisman shattered!”

…

“The life talisman!”

…

As Ji Ning slaughtered all eight Zifu Disciples, the various tribes within Yan Mountain and the surrounding cities discovered that their own Zifu Disciples’ life talismans had broken. A shattered life talisman meant death. Naturally, this shocked and enraged the tribes. Some Zifu Disciples even began flying at top speed toward Yan Mountain.

Within the Yan Mountain territory, at Oxhorn Mountain, eight hundred li outside Ten Thousand Swords City.

Boundless black fog filled the air. Ji Ning stood there, surrounded by the corpses of the Zifu Disciples led by Dongzi Qi.

“Hm?” Ji Ning frowned. He could feel waves of savage, baleful energy constantly flowing into the Northsea Sword in his hand. He had relied on the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation in the previous fight, but as a precaution, he had still been holding the Northsea Swords. Now, the baleful energy from the corpses was being drawn into his swords.

“The Northsea Swords are Fiendgod Blood-Refining weapons. They can absorb negative energy like slaughter-aura, blood-aura, and killing-aura, but only from the kills I make myself.” Ji Ning understood this principle. The Oxhorn Mountain was filled with baleful energy from the countless people Bei Zishan had tortured to death. But since Ji Ning wasn’t the one who had killed them, his swords couldn’t absorb that energy.

But these eight Zifu Disciples… he had personally slain them all.

The Northsea Swords were now actively devouring the energy.

“How strange. It can only absorb the negative energy from kills I make myself, but not from other sources.” Ji Ning shook his head, recalling the ancient Fiendgod Blood-Refining ritual. The ancient, exalted existence that had descended during that ceremony was far more revered than the ‘Dao’ itself. “Right. If it could grow stronger just by absorbing random negative energy, then Fiendgod weapons would be far too easy to upgrade.”

“Hm? My body?” Ji Ning looked down.

Streams of baleful energy were entering his body, or more accurately, being drawn into his Zifu ‘Mansion’.

Within his Zifu, a misty realm of purple energy, a lake of pure Ki Yuan energy rippled. Above this lake floated various treasures, including boats, flying swords, and other unused magic items. One of the Northsea Swords was floating there as well… as he held two in his hands, the third remained within his body.

Before breaking through to the Zifu level, he hadn’t been able to store magic treasures within his body. But after establishing his Zifu, both categorized treasures and Fiendgod Blood-Refined weapons could be stored within. Low-grade magic treasures couldn’t.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~”

All three Northsea Swords—two outside and one inside his Zifu—shared the devoured baleful energy. As they absorbed it, an ancient Fiendgod character for ‘Kill’ appeared on the surface of each sword. The swords themselves were continuously transforming. Since becoming Fiendgod Blood-Refined weapons, this was the most potent surge of baleful energy they had ever absorbed. The negative energy from killing a single Zifu Disciple was far denser than that from killing ten thousand mortals.

“It’s done.” After a moment, Ji Ning hovered the three Northsea Swords before him. Their luster had deepened.

Using his divine sense, he commanded the three swords to slash through the air. Whoosh! Whoosh! He even extended his palm and let the blades cut into it, leaving three deep wounds that healed almost instantly. “They are much sharper now.” Ji Ning revealed a look of delight. “It seems that to nurture a true divine weapon or demonic weapon, one still needs a lot of killing.”

In his bones, Ji Ning disliked wanton slaughter. But those who encroached upon him, who left his Ji Clan no path to survival… he would show them no mercy.

“Patriarch,” Ji Ning said aloud. “How should I attack the other group of Zifu Disciples?”

“Ji Ning.” Patriarch Ji Jiuhuo’s voice echoed in his mind. “The other group consists of seven Zifu Disciples and two Zifu-level spirit beasts. The most troublesome ones are Nong Zidao and Tong Yu. Nong Zidao is an expert in formations, but he is not that difficult to deal with in a direct fight. The other Zifu Disciples combined are no threat to you. Your greatest obstacle is Tong Yu.”

“Tong Yu?” Ji Ning nodded.

“Tong Yu is a Fiendgod Body Refiner. I have been monitoring them, and from their conversations, they are incredibly confident in him, even after knowing the first group of twelve Zifu Disciples are all dead. Some of them even mentioned the word ‘divine ability.’ If my guess is correct, this Tong Yu should be at the peak of the Zifu level and has already mastered a Divine Ability,” Ji Jiuhuo transmitted. “A Fiendgod Body Refiner at the peak Zifu level, with a Divine Ability in his arsenal… his combat power is on par with a Wanxiang Adept. You must be careful.”

Ji Ning nodded.

A Wanxiang-level threat?

With his Yuan power, which was even stronger than a peak Zifu Disciple’s, his Rainwater Sword Domain, and his Lesser Thousand Sword Formation, he could also fight on a Wanxiang Adept’s level.

An opponent who was a Fiendgod Body Refiner, and had a Divine Ability?

“If you can’t kill Tong Yu, try to at least kill Nong Zidao,” Ji Jiuhuo transmitted. “Nong Zidao is their only formation master. Once he dies, they won’t be able to break our Blackflame Dragon Prison Formation. We can hold on until the Grand Xia Dynasty’s envoy arrives.”

“Mm.” Ji Ning nodded. “I understand.”

With a wave of his hand, a large number of storage treasures, flying swords, feathered fans, banners, and other items appeared before him. They were the relics of the eight dead Zifu Disciples. “I’ll find all the categorized flying swords among these, refine them, and increase the power of my Lesser Thousand Sword Formation. Then, I’ll go all out and have a proper battle with this Tong Yu.”

Killing intent filled Ji Ning’s eyes.

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