The Seventy-Two Flying Sword Formation

Immortal Xu Li stretched out his hand, and a large seal suddenly swelled in size, charging toward Ji Ning like a towering wall.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Basking in the blazing crimson light, Ji Ning’s wings merely fluttered once, and he arced gracefully through the air, evading the seal as he continued his charge toward Immortal Xu Li.

“Go,” Immortal Xu Li commanded. The great seal, radiating a dense, earthy yellow light, immediately turned and slammed toward Ji Ning again! The seal attacked him repeatedly. It was, after all, an Earth-ranked treasure, incredibly fast in a straight line. However, it was far less agile than Ji Ning.

Whoosh!

A flash of Ji Ning’s sword-light transformed into a droplet of rain that ‘scraped’ against the edge of the seal. The seal immediately spun out of control to one side, while Ji Ning once again traced an arc in the air, dissipating the impact force as he closed in on Immortal Xu Li.

“Too fast. His speed is too great, his agility too high.” Immortal Xu Li’s heart was filled with shock. In that short span of moments, his Earth-ranked treasure and Ji Ning had clashed multiple times, yet despite relying on his Earth-ranked treasure… Ji Ning had shaken him off with his pure movement technique!

“Go.”

Immortal Xu Li let out a furious shout. A black rope appeared in his hand, wreathed in black qi. With a flick of his wrist, the black rope rapidly expanded… transforming into a rope over a hundred zhang long, resembling a massive serpent, coiling its way toward Ji Ning.

Earth-ranked treasure — ‘Suppressing Earth Seal’.

Earth-ranked treasure — ‘Black Serpent Cord’.

These were the two Earth-ranked treasures Immortal Xu Li relied upon to walk the world. One was rigid, the other flexible; their combined power was boundless. Normally, when facing an opponent weaker than himself, he would simply crush them with the Suppressing Earth Seal. But he hadn’t expected that this time, he couldn’t even land a hit on Ji Ning, forcing him to use both of his killing techniques.

“A rope?” Ji Ning looked at the hundred-zhang-long black serpent coiling toward him, his expression shifting.

“Troublesome. That great seal is simple and direct, unable to do anything to me. But this rope specializes in entangling its enemy.” Countless thoughts flashed through Ji Ning’s mind. “I absolutely cannot be bound by it. If I am, I’m finished.”

From the very start of this battle, Ji Ning had gone all out, utilizing the divine ability ‘Windwing Evasion’, hoping to kill his opponent by leveraging his superior speed and agility.

But…

Immortal Xu Li hadn’t moved an inch from his original position. By merely unleashing his two Earth-ranked treasures, he had already made Ji Ning’s heart tremble.

“Water Walls!”

“Water-Fire Lotus!” Ji Ning willed it, and the surrounding rain instantly transformed into layers of spinning water walls. These layers, as thin as cicada wings, were as sharp as blades, directly slicing through the oppressive moonlight that surrounded them, forming tier upon tier of watery barriers.

At the same time, Water-Fire Lotuses bloomed all around him in the air, a total of nine lotuses appearing at different positions, perfectly positioned to entangle the serpentine rope.

“Hmph, you think these tricks can block my treasures?” Immortal Xu Li laughed coldly.

The Black Serpent Cord danced wildly. Puff puff puff puff!!! Layer after layer of water walls were smashed to pieces. Slap slap slap slap!!!! The Water-Fire Lotuses were crushed and shattered as well. The power an Earth-ranked treasure could unleash in the hands of a Wanxiang Adept was far beyond what those water walls and Water-Fire Lotuses could withstand.

But Ji Ning didn’t need to block them; he only needed to slow down the Black Serpent Cord. If it slowed down just a little, he could leave it in the dust with the speed of his Windwing Evasion divine ability.

“Swoosh!” “Swoosh!”

Rain filled the sky, water walls layered one upon another, lotuses bloomed everywhere.

The Black Serpent Cord and the Suppressing Earth Seal both sought to kill Ji Ning… but Ji Ning traced a winding trajectory, like a bolt of zigzagging lightning, flashing directly in front of Immortal Xu Li.

“Let’s see how many Earth-ranked treasures you have,” Ji Ning said, swinging his Northsea swords. They transformed into droplets of rain, slicing straight toward Immortal Xu Li.

…

The crowd watching from the side, including Nong Zidao and the others, were completely stunned, not even daring to breathe. None of them had expected that the monstrous genius of the Ji Clan could actually fight Immortal Xu Li head-on! Immortal Xu Li had already used two Earth-ranked treasures and still couldn’t do anything to Ji Ning.

“Just now, just now he was evenly matched with Tongyu,” Nong Zidao couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “How did Ji Ning’s speed suddenly increase so much? Even with the two Earth-ranked treasures and the influence of the surrounding Rainwater Sword Domain and Water-Fire Lotuses, they can’t even touch him.”

This speed was too fast!

“If he had been this fast when fighting Tongyu, Tongyu would have lost in a single exchange.” Nong Zidao’s eyes held an expression of disbelief. “Could it be that he just had a breakthrough?”

Monstrous.

He truly was monstrous.

“Immortal Xu Li has to win.”

“He has to win.”

Lu Huang and the other Zifu Disciples were silently praying. Because if Immortal Xu Li lost, he might be able to escape using a Minor Teleportation Dao Talisman. But they would not be able to escape.

…

“Ji Ning has to win.”

On the other side, Ji Jiuhuo and the rest were also hoping for the same thing.

“Ji Ning and Immortal Xu Li are fighting to a standstill,” Ji Jiuhuo said, observing the great battle through the Blackflame Dragon Prison Formation. He spoke while chatting with Ji Yichuan and the others. “Immortal Xu Li used two treasures, both of which are extremely powerful. But Ji Ning’s speed is astonishing, unbelievably fast.” Ji Jiuhuo narrated as he watched, and beside him, Ji Yichuan held his breath.

Tense.

This battle was the decisive one!

…

Faced with Ji Ning, whom his two Earth-ranked treasures couldn’t stop, Immortal Xu Li suddenly let out a furious roar: “Formation!”

Hua! Hua! Hua! Hua! Hua! Hua!

Seventy-two flying swords materialized out of thin air around him. Each sword glowed with black light. These seventy-two flying swords formed a circle around Immortal Xu Li, heavily guarding him.

“What?!” Ji Ning, who was executing his sword technique to kill Immortal Xu Li, was shocked to see the flying swords appear before him. Each sword transformed into a beam of light, stabbing straight toward him.

“Clang!” “Clang!” “Clang!” Ji Ning wielded a Northsea sword in each hand. In the blink of an eye, he blocked nine flying sword attacks in succession. The force of the blows sent him flying backward, while the Black Serpent Cord and the Suppressing Earth Seal behind him closed in once more.

Ji Ning’s wings fluttered, and he immediately traced an arc in the air to dodge.

The surrounding layers of rain and blooming lotuses did their best to obstruct everything.

“How can this be?!” Ji Ning’s face changed. He stared from a distance at Immortal Xu Li, who was protected by the seventy-two flying swords.

“Seventy-two flying swords, and each one’s power is not inferior to a full-power strike from my Northsea swords,” Ji Ning thought. Although he had been using his Northsea swords with all his might, his sword technique was profound. However, Immortal Xu Li’s flying swords were all infused with the Yuan power of a mid-stage Wanxiang Adept. In terms of realm, they were only slightly inferior to the Domain of the Dao.

In terms of individual flying sword power, they were indeed not weaker than a full-force strike from Ji Ning’s Northsea swords.

“Hahaha…”

From a distance, Immortal Xu Li laughed. “Ji Ning, I’ve already discovered your weakness. By using my two Earth-ranked treasures against you, I was fighting my weakness against your strength!”

“Although your speed is astonishing, in the end, you are merely a Zifu Disciple. I don’t even need to use Earth-ranked treasures. Just these ordinary-ranked flying swords are enough to deal with you,” Immortal Xu Li said with a smile. “Moreover, to deal with someone as fast as you, the best method is to use a large number of treasures to surround you.”

“A large number of treasures perfectly counters your speed.” Immortal Xu Li laughed.

One should use different methods against different opponents. When Immortal Xu Li normally fought against other Wanxiang Adepts, the power of these ordinary-ranked flying swords was relatively weak, so he usually relied on his Earth-ranked treasures to secure victory. But against Ji Ning, the power of ordinary-ranked flying swords was sufficient.

“Return.” Immortal Xu Li smiled lightly. The great seal and the black rope that had been pursuing Ji Ning quickly flew back, circling around him.

“Go.” Immortal Xu Li pointed from afar.

Hua!

Immediately, thirty-six flying swords shot through the air, attacking Ji Ning directly.

Although the layered water walls and blooming lotuses desperately tried to block these flying swords, the ordinary-ranked flying swords controlled by Immortal Xu Li were no weaker than a full-force strike from Tongyu. These flying swords naturally pierced through the obstacles by force. Although it slowed their speed, their sheer numbers allowed them to surround Ji Ning from all directions.

For a moment, it was as if thirty-six people were attacking Ji Ning simultaneously.

“To deal with you, I shall overwhelm you with numbers.” Immortal Xu Li was overflowing with confidence.

…

Seeing the thirty-six flying swords attack him from afar, Ji Ning’s expression changed dramatically. He immediately used Windwing Evasion, desperately trying to increase the distance, while at the same time, over six hundred flying swords materialized around him.

“Go!” Ji Ning’s face twisted with savagery. He poured almost all of his heartforce into controlling the sword formation. The surrounding layered water walls and blooming lotuses instantly dissipated. His use of heartforce to execute the eighth layer of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation had already pushed him to his limits; he could no longer spare the mental energy to control the Water-Fire Lotuses or the layered water walls.

Swoosh!

A single sword-ray rapidly transformed into a droplet of rain, instantly howling toward Immortal Xu Li.

“Block it.” From a distance, Immortal Xu Li willed it. The thirty-six flying swords that had been pursuing Ji Ning immediately moved to intercept this strand of rain… Boom! Three of the flying swords touched the strand of rain, and all three were sent flying. The strand of rain continued its charge toward Immortal Xu Li.

“Oh?” Immortal Xu Li revealed a smile from afar. “It seems its power is not small.”

“Go.” Nine of the thirty-six flying swords by his side immediately met it head-on. Clang clang clang!!! With successive collisions, the strand of rain finally dissipated.

Immortal Xu Li looked at Ji Ning from a distance and smiled lightly. “Your sword formation technique is indeed powerful. But… it is still inferior to the might of my Earth-ranked treasures. Even with just these ordinary-ranked flying swords, I only need six of them to completely block the sword-ray formed by your sword formation.”

“You are doomed.” Immortal Xu Li smiled confidently. “Kill.”

The thirty-six flying swords that had been by his side also flew out, joining the thirty-six that were surrounding Ji Ning.

“Seventy-Two Flying Sword Formation! Kill!” A fierce light flashed through Immortal Xu Li’s eyes.

Rumble!

The seventy-two flying swords instantly formed a massive arc, like a well-ordered army, all of their sword-points aimed directly at Ji Ning.