The Last Hope

The moment True Immortal Xuli, Nong Zidao, and the other seven entered the Blackflame Dragon Prison Formation, True Immortal Xuli barked, “Jiaolong Formation!”

As his voice faded, Nong Zidao, Wu Qi, Lu Huang, and the other Zifu Disciples each manifested a phantom of a flood dragon above their heads. The eight flood dragon phantoms shot swiftly toward True Immortal Xuli, above whom a colossal flood dragon phantom coalesced. As it merged with the other eight, a snow-white flood dragon, its scales fully formed, appeared, coiling in protection around the nine men.

The Snowdragon Mountain Sect’s most famous technique was the ‘Snowdragon Soaring Heaven Formation’. This was the sect’s ultimate formation, capable of being formed by a Primal Daoist leading a group of Wanxiang Adepts and thousands of Zifu Disciples to transform into a single white divine dragon… holding the terrifying power to shake heaven and earth. It was a formation that could do battle with an Immortal itself.

Beneath this supreme ‘Snowdragon Soaring Heaven Formation’, the sect had numerous simplified variations, all referred to as ‘Jiaolong Formations’.

Any simplified formation bore the name ‘Jiaolong’. Only the supreme sect-guarding formation could be named with ‘Snowdragon’. The arrangement the nine of them were using now was one such Jiaolong Formation.

…

The snow-white flood dragon coiled around them, radiating an immense pressure.

True Immortal Xuli and the other eight pressed forward.

“Stop.” Nong Zidao gave the order, pointing ahead. “Senior Uncle, please use your artifact. Transform that great seal to ten zhang in width and length, and smash this area into a depression ten zhang deep.”

True Immortal Xuli nodded. The great seal flew from his palm, expanding as it flew until it was ten zhang wide and long. A dense, yellow-brown aura swirled beneath the seal. Pointing downward, Xuli sent the seal crashing to the earth with a thunderous boom. Trees and rocks shattered under the impact, leaving a crater a full ten zhang deep.

“Smash another ten-zhang pit here.” Nong Zidao continued forward, pointing out locations.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With each crash of the great seal, pits were formed in a strange geometric pattern.

They smashed over a hundred pits in total.

“Done.” Nong Zidao smiled. Portions of the Yuan power veins flowing beneath the earth had been blocked, forcing them to change course. Instantly, the dense mist of darkness that filled the area began to dissipate, and the surroundings became clear.

“Impressive.”

“Senior Disciple Brother Zidao is truly skilled.”

The Zifu Disciples all celebrated. The area was now completely visible, allowing them to see parts of Oxhorn Mountain. Even the trees and forests were visible to the naked eye. In the distance, one could even see a massive black dragon claw, and the coiled body of the Blackflame Dragon shifted, its claw disappearing into the nearby darkness.

Nong Zidao laughed. “The mist of the Dragon Claw Formation has been cleared. Only the Dragon Pearl Formation, Dragon Head Formation, Dragon Tail Formation, and Dragon Body Formation remain.”

“Which sub-formation do we enter now?” True Immortal Xuli had a smile on his face.

“Breaking this formation so quickly was only possible because I spent a long time studying it beforehand.” Nong Zidao said quickly. “For the other four sub-formations… it will take a bit longer.”

True Immortal Xuli’s face showed concern. “How long?”

Nong Zidao smiled confidently. “Having broken the Dragon Claw Formation, the other four should go faster. At most, half an hour each.”

“Excellent!” True Immortal Xuli was overjoyed.

At most half an hour each?

Even if all four sub-formations were added together, that was still only two hours at most! As long as the darkness was dispersed, the Ji Clan would have nowhere to hide and would have to face them head-on…

“The Ji Clan is doomed!” True Immortal Xuli’s eyes were filled with anticipation. If they obtained this elemental ore vein, he, as the one with the greatest merit, would surely get a massive share of the spoils.

“Let’s move!”

Under True Immortal Xuli’s command, the nine of them, protected by the circling snow-white flood dragon, entered the Dragon Body Formation.

…

“The mist of the Dragon Claw Formation has dissipated!” The Ji Clan members all felt a chill of fear.

It was precisely because of the mist that the Ji Clan had held the initiative. They could fight when they wanted to and retreat when they didn’t. The enemy, on the other hand, was forced to be passive with nowhere to flee.

“We can’t let them keep this up.” Ji Ning, who understood the Blackflame Dragon Prison Formation well and was quite knowledgeable in formations, grew anxious. “The Blackflame Dragon Prison Formation is incredibly powerful and incorporates a maze effect. Breaking the entire formation is difficult, but clearing the obscuring mist is comparatively easy. Since Nong Zidao has already broken the Dragon Claw Formation, and all five sub-formations are quite similar, the other four won’t take long.”

The formation’s controller, Ji Jiuhuo, nodded in agreement. “Right, we can’t just watch them break through the mist. We have to stop them.”

“We must stop them.”

Granny Shadow and the others all looked anxious.

“Ji Ning, it has to be you.” Ji Jiuhuo looked at Ji Ning. “You are the only one among us with a hope of stopping them. If even you can’t… then the rest of us will just have to fight with everything we have to buy as much time as we can.”

Ji Ning nodded slowly. “Alright.”

This calamity was truly a series of twists and turns. He had thought the Ji Clan had won after killing Tongyu and the others, but the arrival of True Immortal Xuli had plunged the clan into an even more terrifying crisis.

“I have to win this battle.” Ji Ning’s heart burned with boundless battle intent.

I have to win!

I am the only one who can stop Snowdragon Mountain!

If even I fail, I’ll have no choice but to flee. But the Patriarch, my father, and all the others… they are trapped by the ‘Sealing Formation’ and can’t escape. They can only use their lives to delay the enemy and fight!

“Xuli, you must die!”

“All of you must die!”

Ji Ning had only one thought: to kill them. For his own survival, for the Ji Clan, for his family, to avoid the sorrow of fleeing alone… he had to kill them!

“Be careful,” Ji Yichuan said, looking at his son.

“Stopping them is important, but surviving is more important,” Granny Shadow rasped.

Everyone was watching Ji Ning.

Ji Ning nodded slightly, then vanished like a phantom along a path that opened up through the mist, charging toward the enemy.

…

A short time later.

Ji Ning stood beside an ancient, gnarled tree. Floating around him in a dense swarm were over seven hundred flying swords. Of these, forty-five were Human-ranked graded treasures. After killing Tongyu and the other Zifu Disciples, the number of graded flying swords he owned had increased to forty-six, enough to form five formation matrices.

Huum…

The floating swords each began to glow with a hazy light.

Ji Ning’s brow was furrowed, sweat beading on his forehead. He strained to control them, the swords rising and sinking erratically.

“No good, still no good.” Ji Ning shook his head. “When I fought Tongyu, I had twenty-seven graded flying swords in my arsenal… I could barely execute the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation’s ninth layer. Now I have forty-five graded flying swords, but I can’t manage the ninth layer at all.”

The eighth layer!

Ji Ning tried again.

The swords around him sank and rose, flickering with a white light. It was still incredibly difficult.

“Rise!” Ji Ning gritted his teeth, his head feeling like it was splitting. A flying sword of pure white light was barely condensed before him.

“Disperse.” With a thought, Ji Ning recalled all the flying swords.

He sat in contemplation. Right now, I can only execute the eighth layer of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation, and even that is extremely difficult. I estimate I can maintain, at most, three streaks of sword-light at once from the eighth layer.

Though he could only use the eighth layer, its power was thirty to forty percent stronger than the ninth layer he had used to kill Tongyu.

“Patriarch, where are they?” Ji Ning asked, rising. “I’m ready.”

“Straight ahead. I’ll guide you,” Ji Jiuhuo’s voice transmitted in his mind.

“Alright.”

With a pair of Northsea Swords in his hands, Ji Ning’s eyes were filled with nothing but killing intent as he rapidly closed in on his prey.

…

The snow-white flood dragon swam gracefully through the air, each scale immaculate and beautiful. True Immortal Xuli, Nong Zidao, and the other seven cultivators were within the circle of its protective coils. Nong Zidao was deep in formation deduction, studying the secrets of the mist within the Dragon Body Formation.

Suddenly—

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…

A light rain began to fall from the misty darkness, the cool droplets pattering down to cover everything. It was a pleasant rain, but the nine cultivators from Snowdragon Mountain all changed expression.

“Rain!”

“It’s rain! Ji Ning’s rain!”

“The Rainwater Sword Domain! Ji Ning has activated his Rainwater Sword Domain! He’s about to attack!” The Zifu Disciples were all tense, and even Nong Zidao, who had been deducing, stopped, a solemn look on his face.

This rain was like a summoner of death. The previous group, including Dongzi Qi and Tongyu… all the Zifu Disciples had been killed. Now, the rain was falling again.

“The Rainwater Sword Domain?” True Immortal Xuli, clad in a magnificent black robe, narrowed his eyes like a viper, scanning his surroundings. He was the calmest of them all, but even he was now on high alert. After all, even his own comprehension of the Dao was still somewhat behind the ‘Dao Domain’ stage.

“Hmph.”

A cold snort rang out.

In the midst of the surrounding mist, dazzling constellations appeared, accompanied by a bright, full moon. The moon’s watery light showered down, enveloping True Immortal Xuli and the other Zifu Disciples within the range of the snow-white flood dragon’s coils. This lunar light forcibly pushed back the rain.

“Ji Ning, skulking about like this is beneath contempt.” True Immortal Xuli stood within the moonlight, surrounded by the flood dragon, and spoke coldly. “If you want to kill, come out and fight.”

“Then I’ll oblige you!”

A shout rang out like a spring thunderclap, exploding through the air.

Boom!

A streak of light suddenly shot out from the dark mist in the distance. Within a blooming Water-Fire Lotus, a massive, fiery Roc spread its wings and closed the distance in an instant. In the blink of an eye, the fiery Roc, surrounded by the Water-Fire Lotus, was right before True Immortal Xuli. Its speed sent a chill down even Xuli’s spine.

Roar!

The snow-white flood dragon’s tail lashed out like a phantom, trying to smash the fiery Roc.

But the Roc was too fast. The flood dragon’s tail struck nothing but air!

This is… True Immortal Xuli recognized the figure. It was not a Roc at all—it was a youth! The youth’s entire body was wreathed in flames like a Fiendgod, his magic treasure wings fully spread. A layer of fiery light covered those wings, and his speed made Xuli’s heart quiver.

A Divine Ability—the Windwing Evasion!

When a Fiendgod Body Refiner learned a Divine Ability, their combat power could leap across boundaries. Although Ji Ning had only just entered the seventh layer of the Crimsonbright Diagram, his physical power was comparable to a Fiendgod Body Refiner at the late Zifu stage. And by using the Windwing Evasion, a Divine Ability that specialized in speed and agility, his speed instantly shot up several levels, surpassing even True Immortal Xuli.

“Ji Ning?” Looking at the youth wreathed in the divine power of Crimsonbright, holding twin swords, a boy whose speed had made even him tremble, True Immortal Xuli’s expression finally changed. “This is the Ji Ning who was said to be on par with Tongyu? What a joke! How could Tongyu have been this strong!”

“DIE!”

A shout rang out!

A streak of sword-light blazed!