The Silent Blade Returns

It was already dusk. The faint outline of the Golden Crow could still be seen at the edge of the western horizon.

At the northern shore of Winged Serpent Lake, near the water’s edge.

Swish!

A figure suddenly shot up from the water, swift as lightning. It was Ji Ning, who had just been teleported out of the aquatic palace. In his left hand, he held a flying sword—the Annihilating Demonbane Sword. It was roughly the size of a palm, faintly translucent, and on the semi-transparent, black blade was a barely visible trace of blood.

“Windwing Evasion!” Ji Ning activated the divine ability, transforming into a streak of light that far surpassed the speed of sound, crossing dozens of li in an instant.

“Father, wait for me.”

Ji Ning’s eyes were filled with anxiety.

He had just obtained this treasure, the Annihilating Demonbane Sword—the most suitable weapon for assassination in his possession—inside the aquatic palace. The moment he received it, he was teleported to the northernmost part of Winged Serpent Lake. Even as he flew, he was refining and familiarizing himself with the treasure.

“The trial in the Divine Abilities Hall took me half an hour. Father, you have to hold on.” Ji Ning’s heart was blazing with impatience.

Whoosh!

He was like a roc, flashing across the sky and disappearing in an instant. Even a Xiantian lifeform would find it impossible to track his movements.

…

About two minutes later, Ji Ning spotted the enormous sealing formation in the distance, shimmering like clear ripples on the water. The formation completely shrouded Oxhorn Mountain.

From Winged Serpent Lake to Oxhorn Mountain was a distance of several thousand li, but Ji Ning’s speed was terrifyingly fast.

Consider this…

A Zifu Disciple traveling on a magic treasure could cover a full two hundred thousand li in a single day. In truth, the Wanxiang Adept ‘Xu Li’ had led Dong Fan Yu and the others from the commandery all the way to the Yan Mountains in just one hour—a distance of a hundred thousand li! Three to five minutes was enough to cover several thousand li.

Ji Ning, using the divine ability ‘Windwing Evasion,’ was far faster than Xu Li. Covering the distance from Winged Serpent Lake to Oxhorn Mountain in two minutes was perfectly normal.

“Break!”

Ji Ning held the Northsea sword in his hand. The divine patterns on his palm were faintly visible. He thrust the sword directly at the sealing formation ahead, not slowing down in the slightest.

Pfft!

Like a streak of light, he pierced straight through the sealing formation.

“Father!” The moment Ji Ning passed through the sealing formation, he could see the enormous, sinuous black dragon coiled around Oxhorn Mountain, radiating an aura of deathly stillness. His heart stirred, and an overwhelming Divine Sense surged out, instantly enveloping the entire Oxhorn Mountain and the Blackflame Dragon Prison Formation.

Under the sweep of his Divine Sense, every single detail was laid bare.

The anxious and worried Patriarch, Ji Jiuhuo…

Granny Shadow, silently waiting…

His father, Ji Yichuan, whose aura was roaring to the heavens as he activated his forbidden art…

A white-clothed, white-haired man whose face was strikingly similar to his father’s, but whose aura was identical to that of the Whitewater Hound…

He saw them all.

“Good.” Ji Ning relaxed slightly. He had made it in time.

His Divine Sense also swept over Xu Li, Nong Zidao, and the others. Under its coverage, the miasma formation of deathly energy was completely useless. It couldn’t affect Ji Ning in the slightest. Everything within the grand formation was clearly visible to him.

“Die.” Ji Ning didn’t slow down at all. He continued to use the Windwing Evasion, charging straight towards Xu Li.

Midway up Oxhorn Mountain.

Ji Jiuhuo, who was controlling the entire grand formation, suddenly changed expression. Others couldn’t see it, but as the formation’s controller, the moment Ji Ning rushed into the Blackflame Dragon Prison Formation’s range, he immediately detected him.

“Ji Ning?” Ji Jiuhuo’s face instantly turned deathly pale. Ji Ning was the hope of their Ji Clan’s resurgence. He had even given Ji Ning the Ten Thousand Swords City vassal token. As long as Ji Ning lived… even if all of them died, it wouldn’t matter too much to the Ji Clan. Even knowing they were going to die one after another, Ji Jiuhuo had remained calm, because Ji Ning had already escaped.

But Ji Ning had come back?

“Ji Ning! Leave! Leave right now!” Ji Jiuhuo sent a direct mental transmission, his voice frantic, almost mad. “Who told you to come back? Go, go!”

Ji Jiuhuo was truly panicking.

He was burning with such desperate fury that it could drive him insane.

If Ji Ning died here, the Ji Clan would truly be completely annihilated. He, Ji Jiuhuo, would have no face left to face the clan’s ancestors.

“Go!!! Are you here to court death?” Ji Jiuhuo roared via mental transmission, his voice almost choked with tears. But according to his perception of the formation, Ji Ning’s speed didn’t slow in the slightest. He was still charging towards the Snowdragon Mountain group.

In his panic, Ji Jiuhuo had lost his reason. If he had calmed down, he would have realized something was wrong. Ji Ning was inside the miasma formation, and Ji Jiuhuo hadn’t opened a path for him. How could Ji Ning see clearly enough to charge straight at the enemy?

But Ji Jiuhuo was frantic, going mad, even tears budding in his eyes. How could he stay calm?

“Ji Ning, go! Go! Run!” Ji Jiuhuo transmitted urgently. “Yichuan! Yichuan! Stop your son! Ji Ning didn’t leave! He’s charging at the Snowdragon Mountain group!”

Whoosh!

Ji Yichuan was currently leaning against the trunk of a curved tree. Suddenly, the Patriarch’s voice rang in his ears. At the same time, the deathly miasma in front of him parted to form a passage, revealing a distant scene. A figure was charging like lightning, heading roughly in his direction. Ji Yichuan was currently very close to the Snowdragon Mountain group.

“Ji Ning?” Ji Yichuan’s face also turned deathly pale, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He had already prepared himself to die.

His heart was completely calm, because his son had already left. The Ji Clan would prosper because of his son, and his son’s name would spread across the endless lands.

But!

Ji Ning had come!

“GO!!!” Ji Yichuan’s voice was distorted as he transmitted, his expression ferocious. “Ji Ning! Who told you to come back?! GO! If you don’t leave, I won’t be able to close my eyes even in death! Go now!”

…

The moment Ji Ning charged into the Blackflame Dragon Prison Formation, the Patriarch’s voice rang in his ears. At the same time, the miasma in front of him parted, revealing a distant scene. Standing in the distance was his father, Ji Yichuan, who was only a hundred or so zhang away from Xu Li and the others.

“Go!”

“Go now!”

“If you don’t leave, I won’t be able to die with peace.”

“I have failed the ancestors of the Ji Clan!”

Both Patriarch Ji Jiuhuo and his father, Ji Yichuan, had been completely calm in the face of death, but now they were both on the verge of collapse. Ji Ning’s appearance was a nightmare to them. They would rather be utterly destroyed than see this. They were both going mad with anxiety.

Ji Ning’s heart trembled at the sound of his father’s and the Patriarch’s voices. He understood their thoughts perfectly.

“You’ll see,” Ji Ning’s eyes flashed with a cold light. A stream of light shot down into the depths of the earth. Under the command of his Divine Sense, the Annihilating Demonbane Sword moved swiftly underground towards Xu Li.

Whoosh!

Ji Ning himself also activated the Windwing Evasion, moving like lightning towards Xu Li and the others.

The area was filled with the miasma of deathly energy. A snow-white flood dragon was coiled there, and cultivators like Xu Li, Lu Huang, and Nong Zidao were all resting comfortably inside it. Nong Zidao was the only one frowning with his eyes closed, pushing his mental power to the limit. The earth-type energy veins of the entire miasma formation were now clearly more complex. Fortunately, he had experience from breaking down similar formations before, so he could still do it—it would just take more time.

“Hm?” Xu Li’s expression changed slightly. He turned his head and looked into the distance. He could sense that his sealing formation had been pierced.

“Who pierced the sealing formation?” Xu Li’s heart tightened, and he grew cautious. A Dao talisman appeared in his hand.

As a Wanxiang Adept, he had experienced danger many times, so he was naturally cautious. He always considered retreat before planning the attack.

Swish! Swish!

The Mystic Serpent Rope and the Seal of the Land, two Earth-ranked treasures, floated around him in constant vigilance.

Suddenly—

Swish!

A figure rushed out of the deathly miasma in the distance, like a giant roc, holding two swords. The figure’s speed was so great that even Xu Li had to admit he was no match. However, when he saw who it was, Xu Li actually relaxed his guard, and called out, “Ji Ning! You’ve come to die!—“

His voice echoed through the air.

Seventy-two flying swords appeared out of nowhere, shooting straight towards Ji Ning to trap him. Xu Li had learned from experience; he knew to use a dense cloud of flying swords to deal with Ji Ning’s speed.

Boom!

An explosion rang out.

Flying swords were sent flying in all directions. A single sword-beam had already reached Xu Li, who was right in front of it. Bang! Bang! The Earth-ranked treasures ‘Seal of the Land’ and ‘Mystic Serpent Rope’ were blasted aside, and a flash of sword-light streaked past Xu Li’s head, sending it flying from his shoulders.

Xu Li was dead.

Whoosh~~~

The coiled, snow-white flood dragon vanished, and the Zifu Disciples were left staring in shock, unable to react.

“Pfft!”

A phantom shot up from the ground, piercing straight through Nong Zidao’s skull!

Nong Zidao, who had been completely absorbed in the formation calculations, remained lost in his deductions even as he died.

Nong Zidao was dead.

…

In the blink of an eye!

Both Xu Li and Nong Zidao were dead. A single blink of an eye was all it had taken.

Ji Ning had used his divine ability, the Starseizing Hand. The Northsea sword in his hand had naturally employed his most powerful sword technique. The power of that single blow was terrifying beyond measure. The seventy-two flying swords were all sent flying, and the two Earth-ranked treasures were also blasted aside. The sword-light had pierced straight through the snow-white flood dragon to slay Xu Li.

It had been too fast.

When he first saw Ji Ning, Xu Li had still been confident. But Ji Ning’s terrifying sword strike had been too quick and too fierce. He had still been trying to control his two Earth-ranked treasures to block it when the sword-light had already killed him.

“You, you…” The other Zifu Disciples finally snapped out of their shock, staring at Ji Ning in disbelief.

It was too fast.

In a single blink, both Xu Li and Nong Zidao were dead? The mighty Wanxiang Adept ‘Xu Li’ had even fought Ji Ning before! How could he have been instantly killed in one blow, without even a chance to flee? How was this possible?

“Ji Ning! Go! Go now!”

“I will not rest in peace!”

“I have shamed the ancestors!”

The mental transmissions were still echoing, but then they stopped short.

Patriarch Ji Jiuhuo, who was controlling the grand formation, was completely stunned. His father, Ji Yichuan, who had charged through the hundred-zhang distance despite everything, was originally rushing towards Ji Ning with a face full of pain, fury, and panic, screaming, “Ji Ning, quickly—“

His voice was suddenly caught in his throat. He stared at the two corpses on the ground. One was the formerly calm and supremely powerful Wanxiang Adept ‘Xu Li’. The other corpse was the formation master, Nong Zidao. There was blood and brain matter on the ground. They were, without a doubt, dead.

“This…!” Ji Yichuan was completely shocked, staring at his son in disbelief. Ji Ning was standing next to Xu Li’s corpse, holding the Northsea sword in his hand.

“Ji Ning, enjoy your victory while you can! Snowdragon Mountain will avenge us!” A voice filled with grief and madness came from the seven Zifu Disciples around them.