Not Yet a Roar, Then a Stunning Cry (Part 1)

“Win! Win! Win!” Mu Northson stood outside the sealing formation, his eyes blazing with fervent anticipation as he watched Ji Ning seated on a stone pillar far within. “He has to win.” Having lost two matches in a row, he felt strongly aligned with Ji Ning—both were newly inducted disciples.

The senior disciples, following “tradition,” had been teaching them, the newcomers, a harsh lesson. Having been defeated himself, Northson desperately wanted Ji Ning to claim a victory and salvage some face for the two of them. And Yinxue Wenjian had gone too far, setting the stakes so ridiculously high.

“Poor Junior Disciple Ning.”

“Senior Disciple Wenjian didn’t hold back at all with those stakes.”

The senior disciples murmured among themselves.

Nine Lotus, standing nearby, watched Ji Ning intently within the formation and said softly, “Fellow disciples, don’t speak too soon. It’s still hard to say who will win between Junior Disciple Wenjian and Junior Disciple Beiming.”

“Junior Disciple Wenjian has been training for years. How could he lose to this Ji Ning?”

“Senior Sister Nine Lotus, it’s unlikely Ji Ning will win, right?”

Even Mu Northson was surprised by Nine Lotus’s words, since she was technically on the side of the senior disciples.

“Just watch.” Nine Lotus’s face maintained its faint smile.

…

Yinxue Wenjian, seated cross-legged on his stone pillar, noticed that Senior Sister Nine Lotus’s gaze lingered more on Ji Ning. A chill deepened in his eyes.

“Once the protective layer on the puppets each of you controls is broken, that signifies defeat,” the white-haired elder called out from afar.

Ji Ning nodded calmly. The puppet was an extension of himself. If its protective shell was breached, in a real life-or-death battle, he would have been killed. Naturally, that meant defeat.

“Since you understand… begin!” The white-haired elder’s voice dropped.

Within the vast arena of the sealing formation, both puppets moved simultaneously.

Ji Ning controlled the Thousand Sword Puppet; Yinxue Wenjian controlled the Big Dipper Puppet.

“Swish! Swish!” Both puppets retreated, widening the distance immediately.

Neither wanted their puppet to get too close, because once the protective layer was pierced, victory was lost.

“Careful, Junior Disciple Ning!” Yinxue Wenjian shouted from his distant pillar. The Big Dipper Puppet beneath him carried seven flying swords on its back. One sword, exuding a fierce baleful aura, shot into the air, igniting dense blood-red light in the surrounding void.

“Alkaid Breaks the Army!”

“Senior Disciple Wenjian leads with Alkaid Breaks the Army—his killing intent is strong indeed.” The other watching disciples were startled.

The flying sword streaked across the sky, leaving a trail of blood-light as if an iron-blooded army had passed, faintly accompanied by the roar of battle. It slashed directly toward Ji Ning’s Thousand Sword Puppet.

“Strong killing intent.” Ji Ning sat cross-legged on his pillar, a light smile on his lips. “I’ll extinguish that killing intent.”

“Go!”

Clang!

One of the tiny swords densely packed on the Thousand Sword Puppet’s back flew out. It had been no larger than an embroidery needle at takeoff, but quickly expanded to palm-size. As the sword-light emerged, flowing water began to swirl around it, and the sword-light itself merged into the flowing water.

“Slash!” Yinxue Wenjian’s face darkened.

The baleful flying sword did not dodge; it drove straight at the flowing water. The Alkaid Sword relied on this momentum—it could not be weakened!

The sword slammed into the water. Splash! The water shattered, but the fragments swirled and wrapped around the sword again. As the saying goes, “draw a knife to cut water—water flows more.” No matter how strong the tempered steel, when meeting the endless flowing-water sword-light, it turned into softness wrapping around steel.

After the first burst, momentum waned; on the second try, it weakened; by the third, it was exhausted.

“Not good.” Yinxue Wenjian’s expression shifted. He realized that Ji Ning had blocked him with just a single flying sword.

“Impressive.”

“He blocked Senior Disciple Wenjian’s Alkaid Breaks the Army with just one sword. Ji Ning’s strength isn’t far from Wenjian’s after all.”

The azure-robed youth Bu Ying frowned. “That’s the Flowing Water Sword from the ‘Lesser Five Elements Sword Manual.’”

“The Lesser Five Elements Sword Manual? Senior Brother Ying, are you sure?” The others looked at Bu Ying with doubt. They had all heard of the famous manual, but none specialized in swords and couldn’t recognize the stance.

Bu Ying nodded: “I’ve studied it. That stance is definitely the Flowing Water Sword. I didn’t expect Junior Disciple Beiming to have already mastered part of the Lesser Five Elements Sword Manual so soon after joining.”

Nine Lotus listened in silence, a soft smile on her lips.

…

Yinxue Wenjian couldn’t hear the external discussions, but he could guess. Both sides had used only one flying sword, and Ji Ning had actually blocked him—how humiliating! He had been training for years!

“Junior Disciple Ning, take my Big Dipper – Greedy Wolf Ripping Heaven!” Yinxue Wenjian roared furiously.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The other six flying swords on the Big Dipper Puppet’s back shot up together with the one that had returned, instantly forming the Big Dipper Sword Formation. Rumble… In the mid-air, seven enormous stars materialized in the shape of a ladle. Then one sword blazed with light.

“ROOOAR!” A massive phantom of a black wolf coalesced around that core sword.

The Greedy Wolf lifted its head and howled, then lunged with a leap toward Ji Ning. Though it appeared as a single wolf charging, it was in reality the simultaneous assault of all seven flying swords.

“Go!” Ji Ning commanded coldly.

Eight more flying swords flew from the Thousand Sword Puppet’s back, joining the first to instantly form a simple Nine Palaces Sword Formation. Ji Ning had acquired the ‘Nine Yang Sword Formation’ from the aquatic palace, which contained some inherent profundity. Although not as intricate as the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation, it was still impressive. His attainments in formations were considerable, and the Nine Palaces Sword Formation he deployed was quite competent.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Nine streaks of sword-light soared toward the massive Greedy Wolf phantom. As they flew, the nine streaks blurred into over a hundred sword-shadows, which then transformed into rain droplets—more than a hundred drops of rain, like shooting stars, smashed viciously forward.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The rain drops crashed against the wolf one after another, each carrying terrifying power.

“Not good.” Bu Ying leaped to his feet outside the formation, shock in his eyes. “How can he…”

Rumble… The relentless barrage of rain drops shattered the baleful Greedy Wolf and scattered the seven flying swords.

“How is this possible!” Yinxue Wenjian, controlling everything from his pillar, turned pale.

Swish!

Several sword rays, their momentum unabated, streaked to the Big Dipper Puppet and slashed across it in an instant. The black stone protective layer was cut open, revealing the fiery red inner layer beneath.

“Ji Ning wins!” The white-haired elder announced loudly from afar.

Yinxue Wenjian’s face turned ashen.