The Dragon Whale King Strikes

Dong Yi and Hong Rui were waiting outside the formation.

“Hm?” Both Dong Yi and Hong Rui sensed something and turned to look behind them. At the end of the dark underground river, a tall, broad figure was strolling toward them.

His body was a full two stories high, clearly not something a normal human could possess. And the surging demonic aura he made no effort to conceal radiated wantonly… His jade-green eyes carried an air of lofty condescension.

“Who are you?” Hong Rui shouted.

The more cautious Dong Yi said, “Demon, you’d best leave quickly. We have no desire to kill a demon right now.”

“You don’t want to kill a demon, but I want to kill a man right now.” The Dragon Whale King was utterly relaxed, the relaxed arrogance of one who held absolute superiority in power.

“Kill a man?”

Dong Yi and Hong Rui’s expressions changed.

“If you want to blame someone in your next life, blame that child Ji Ning.” As the Dragon Whale King spoke, a massive black greatsword wreathed in searing golden flame directly shot toward Hong Rui and the others.

“Ji Ning?” Dong Yi and Hong Rui were instantly bewildered, but facing the incoming black greatsword, they stopped thinking and moved to meet the enemy.

“Hmph.”

The bald, black-robed woman Hong Rui suddenly waved her hand. Two bloody red ribbons lashed through the air, flying like twin blood dragons that let out draconic roars as they coiled directly toward the black greatsword.

“Freeze.” Dong Yi pointed from afar, sending a stream of cold-sha directly toward the sword to freeze it.

“Boom!”

The black greatsword smashed through everything, scattering the two blood dragons with unstoppable force. The golden flame on the sword’s surface blazed even more brilliantly… easily dispersing the cold-sha, and in the blink of an eye it was upon the bald, black-robed woman Hong Rui.

“Impossible!” Hong Rui stomped the ground, transforming into a streak of light as she tried to flee, even producing a bronze bell in her hand.

The golden flame on the black greatsword suddenly exploded outward. Boom! The golden flame swept past the woman Hong Rui. “No!” A single, shrill scream rang out as the bald woman Hong Rui was instantly reduced to ash in the golden flame. Even her soul was burned to nothingness without a trace.

“What kind of earthfire is this?” Dong Yi turned pale with fright.

“Junior apprentice-sister!” Redleaf True Immortal, who was inside the formation, heard the scream and grew anxious. “Dong Yi! What happened to my junior apprentice-sister?”

“Hahaha… earthfire?” The Dragon Whale King let out a cold laugh. “This is primal fire!”

Dong Yi’s face changed drastically.

Redleaf True Immortal’s face changed as well.

Primal fire?

Flame is hard to distinguish by appearance alone. There are hundreds of types of earthfire—golden, white, green, all kinds. You can’t really tell just by looking. But primal fire… is the fire naturally conceived by a Tortoise-Serpent Primal, possessing tremendous power. Even earthfire would need to be nurtured to the upper three grades just to match it.

“She’s dead. Now die yourself.” The Dragon Whale King willed it, sending his flying-sword treasure directly at Dong Yi.

This Heaven-ranked flying sword was something he had acquired by chance. For someone of his status, obtaining an ordinary Heaven-ranked treasure wasn’t too hard… Although he wasn’t especially skilled with flying swords, now that he had become a Primal Daoist, his Primal power could drive a Heaven-ranked treasure carrying ‘primal fire’ with enough might to rival his earlier Fiendgod Body Refining divine abilities.

“First I encounter a Black-White College disciple who can use divine sense secret arts, and now I run into a Primal great demon. How unlucky can I get!” Dong Yi’s face was ashen. Gritting his teeth, he transformed into a streak of blood light.

Swoosh!

He fled into the distance at a speed that surprised even the Dragon Whale King.

“Too bad I set up the Locking Space Formation all around.” The Dragon Whale King shook his head with a cold smirk. With a single step, he had closed dozens of kilometers.

…

While the Dragon Whale King pursued Dong Yi, Redleaf True Immortal, trapped inside the formation, wore an ugly expression.

“My junior apprentice-sister is dead?”

“A Primal great demon?”

Gritting his teeth, Redleaf True Immortal produced a black shuttle from his storage. The black shuttle emanated an ancient, evil aura. This was a life-saving treasure he had discovered while wandering outside—a legacy item from the Primordial Fiendgod Era known as the ‘Nine Heavens Ten Earths Evasion Shuttle’. Once activated, its speed would reach an extreme. The shuttle’s tip itself possessed immense penetrating power; even a towering mountain would be easily pierced through.

But each use would completely drain the shuttle’s stored energy, which would take ten years to recover.

“I have no choice.” Redleaf True Immortal willed it.

Whoosh!

The evil black shuttle rapidly expanded, and he climbed inside.

Whoosh!

The black shuttle transformed into a streak of light, moving at an astonishing speed. The small mist formation could not affect it in the slightest; it pierced through easily… The black streak, swift as lightning, tore through layers of rock and stone, and then struck the rippling barrier of the Locking Space Formation.

Pssh! It pierced straight through.

The black shuttle vanished into the distant wilderness in an instant.

…

Dong Yi, trying desperately to escape, stared at the rippling barrier of the Locking Space Formation before him. Despair flooded him. He had already tried attacking it twice and could not budge it.

“You can’t escape.” The Dragon Whale King appeared behind him. Two whiskers made of flame materialized, wreathed in blazing primal fire, and closed in on Dong Yi.

Dong Yi’s face showed utter hopelessness.

Though he had a protective treasure, it would only hold out for a short time. He couldn’t escape the Locking Space Formation; he was dead.

“Blame that child Ji Ning.” The Dragon Whale King sneered. “You two are just appetizers. Hm? One got away? What kind of treasure was that shuttle? Quite fast.”

Even with his experience, he had never heard of the ancient Primordial Fiendgod-era treasure ‘Nine Heavens Ten Earths Evasion Shuttle’.

“Why blame Ji Ning?” Dong Yi roared. “At least let me die knowing why.”

The Dragon Whale King looked at the human cultivator in surprise. “You mean you don’t know that the person inside that formation is that child Ji Ning?”

“It’s Ji Ning inside the formation?”

Dong Yi’s eyes flew wide.

If he had known earlier that Ji Ning was inside, he would have fled without a second word! Last time, the six of them had joined forces and still lost to Ji Ning and his junior apprentice-brother. There was no way he would have tried to deal with Ji Ning again. But Ji Ning hadn’t made a sound.

“Curse you, Ji Ning! I fell into your hands in this life. In my next life, I’ll get you back!” A mad light flickered in Dong Yi’s eyes. Boom! As the fiery whiskers closed in, his entire body exploded.

Knowing the enemy was a Primal Daoist, he had no intention of letting the primal fire burn him to death. Being burned by primal fire meant even the soul would be incinerated.

That would be utter annihilation!

By committing suicide, he could at least enter the cycle of reincarnation again.

“Died cleanly.” The Dragon Whale King didn’t mind. With a wave, he collected all the treasures Dong Yi had left behind without giving them a second glance. Then, with a single step, he charged back toward Ji Ning’s location.

…

Ji Ning sat cross-legged, inhaling mouthful after mouthful of earthfire into his Violet Palace. The rate of absorption was so fierce that even Qingqing and Mu Northson felt their hearts pound.

“Senior apprentice-brother, are you okay? Is something wrong?” Mu Northson asked worriedly.

“Master wants to finish planting the earthfire as quickly as possible,” Qingqing said, also watching Ji Ning.

Ji Ning was indeed pushing himself.

He had already absorbed a large amount of earthfire over the past three-plus days. When Redleaf True Immortal and the others had attacked the formation, Ji Ning had begun to speed up his absorption of earthfire even further.

“The earthfire is finally enough.” Ji Ning had no time to worry about anything else.

“Condense!”

Within his Violet Palace space, the countless stars, the moon rabbit, and the golden crow all shot out tens of thousands of rays of light that landed on the earthfire island, covering all the earthfire like soil. The earthfire rapidly seeped into and wrapped around every strand of formation-pattern, turning them all golden.

Crackle!

On the earthfire island, a tiny golden flame sprouted.

“Success.” Ji Ning let out a breath.

He opened his eyes and looked at his junior apprentice-brother and Qingqing. He felt cold sweat on his back and forehead. In those final moments, he had really pushed the absorption of earthfire to the limit, dancing on a razor’s edge. One mistake and he would have lost control. But with a Primal great demon outside, he had no choice.

“Senior apprentice-brother, what’s happening outside?” Mu Northson asked quickly. “I noticed that Redleaf True Immortal inside the fog formation fled, and there was fighting outside.”

“It’s the Dragon Whale,” Ji Ning said in a low voice.

“Dragon Whale?” Qingqing was shocked. “You mean the Dragon Whale King from before? I heard someone outside say ‘primal fire’. Did the Dragon Whale King break through and become a Primal great demon?”

Ji Ning nodded.

Qingqing and Mu Northson’s hearts turned cold.

Unlike Redleaf True Immortal, Ji Ning and Mu Northson had just left their sect and were wandering the world. The protective treasures they had were only what the sect had given them. They didn’t have a miraculous treasure like the ‘Nine Heavens Ten Earths Evasion Shuttle’.

“His Locking Space Formation is still an Earth-ranked formation,” Ji Ning transmitted. “Now that he’s a Primal great demon, he’s using Primal-level power to fuel it… The sealing power should be limited. If I go all out, I might be able to break through.”

“Senior apprentice-brother, I have a guardian puppet my master gave me. It can unleash Primal Daoist-level power for a short time, enough to break the formation. But it can only fight for about ten breaths before it shatters, because the materials are ordinary,” Mu Northson said.

Ji Ning felt slightly relieved.

True. His own master, Diancai Immortal, had given him two protective treasures. And Mu Northson’s master, Qionghua Daoist, doted on his disciples. What’s more, puppet arts sometimes allowed puppets to fight above their rank. It made sense that his junior apprentice-brother had a guardian treasure.

“Hahaha…” A booming, arrogant laugh rang out. “Child Ji Ning, you were so smug last time. Did you ever think today would come? My ten thousand years of accumulation exploded in a single burst, allowing me to break through to the Primal stage. Now killing you is much easier.”

“Kill me? Last time we fought, you ran fast and managed to keep your life,” Ji Ning said coldly. “You might have become a Primal Daoist, but you’ve just broken through. Your power shouldn’t have increased too ridiculously. I still have ways to kill you! Black-White College disciples specialize in fighting above their rank.”

“Black-White College?” The Dragon Whale King was slightly startled, then sneered.

He had a Fiendgod Body Refining physique, divine abilities, and was an innately gifted Primal great demon. Why would he fear a Wanxiang Adept?

“Leave now, and you might live. Otherwise…” Ji Ning looked toward the outside of the formation, where the Dragon Whale King stood. For the two of them, who both had divine sense, a mere mist formation was useless.