The Two Throws

This Immortal estate was the old lair of Immortal Wu Jiang. Naturally, he had laid down layer after layer of defenses. Although Immortal Wu Jiang was dead, many of the measures he left behind were still of use—the Dao-soldiers, for example!

Immortal Wu Jiang had spent countless treasures to cultivate this formidable army of Dao-soldiers. In its heyday, it could easily annihilate Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals! But the estate had been abandoned for endless eons; the demonic Dao-soldiers of that ancient age had long since grown old and died, leaving behind a great number of suits of Dao-soldier armor.

In their earlier conjectures, Ji Ning and the others had surmised that Immortal Wu Jiang was a demonic Immortal, and that arranging for some of his kin to live within his estate was perfectly normal. The world within this Immortal estate… although far less vast and endless than the Grand Xia Dynasty, was still several tens of thousands of li in circumference, comparable to the size of Earth. The demonic races would be able to breed and multiply endlessly.

With the cultivation methods left behind by generation after generation of demons, and with the divine energy of heaven and earth within the estate being incomparably dense, it was only natural that great demons would arise.

A horde of great demons!

But a horde of demonic Dao-soldiers was an entirely different concept. With precious Dao-soldier armor, their combat power would multiply tenfold or even a hundredfold!

Even the Ji Clan possessed Dao-soldier armor meant for mortals.

Dao-soldier armor used by Xiantian lifeforms and Zifu Disciples was far rarer. Sects like Snowdragon Mountain might possess some.

But Dao-soldier armor usable by Wanxiang Adepts and Primal Daoists… even the Liebtian Sword Sect would have to pour the full strength of their sect to acquire a few suits. Immortal Wu Jiang had spent a vast fortune to trade for this Dao-soldier armor.

And now, Ji Ning and the others were in deep trouble!

“ROOOOOAR!” The thousands of demonic Dao-soldiers transformed into a surging tidal wave that came crashing towards them.

“Hold them off!”

Youngmaster Shaoyin shouted angrily. Even he looked grim in the face of thousands of demonic Dao-soldiers. A layer of black, watery ripples appeared on the surface of their great ship, completely protecting the vessel.

BOOM!!!

The edge of that surging wave struck the great ship like a blade. The entire vessel was sent tumbling backwards, crashing heavily into a desolate mountain peak not too far away. The mountain shook with a thunderous roar, and the warship was wedged deep into the rock. The black watery barrier had completely shattered.

“Uncle Fang, what do we do?” Youngmaster Shaoyin sent frantically.

“Youngmaster, the full-force attack of these thousand demonic Dao-soldiers is approaching the power of an Earth Immortal.” The swarthy middle-aged man at Shaoyin Nong’s side sent back. “The leader of those demon Dao-soldiers, that mermaid demon, is definitely a Primal-level great demon. I have to stay by your side to protect you; after all, I specialize in close combat. If I charged out, I wouldn’t be able to protect you. Let them handle it… and if we can seize the opportunity to kill that Primal-level mermaid demon, the threat of these Dao-soldiers will be greatly reduced.”

“Kill them!”

“Everyone, it’s up to you.” Shaoyin Nong sent to Ji Ning, Xue Hongyi, Cangjiang Zhenren, and the others.

Ji Ning and the rest all cursed inwardly.

It seemed Youngmaster Shaoyin wasn’t about to risk his own skin. He was sending them out to fight.

“Kill!” Xue Hongyi struck first, flinging out a streak of snowy-white light that shot towards the oncoming thousand Dao-soldiers.

“Sword formation!” Ji Ning produced over seven hundred flying swords around him. Using the power of his Wanxiang-level Yuan Ki and the ninth layer of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation, he condensed a single, enormous flying sword of sword-light. This sword of light executed the fifth stance of the Three-Foot Sword, ‘Moonlight Hides the Sword.’ It was like gentle moonlight, reaching out to caress the surging tide of demonic Dao-soldiers.

“Seal!” Yu Wei pointed a finger from afar.

In mid-air, a massive Ice Phoenix appeared. A colossal phoenix formed entirely of freezing ice spread its wings and flew forward, radiating a heart-stopping power.

“Canglang Breaks the Waves!” Cangjiang Zhenren chanted aloud, looking quite elegant. A massive, black-green giant sword hovered in the air, covered in dense runic patterns. Then, this black-green giant sword streaked through the sky, chopping towards those Dao-soldiers.

Including the Zifu Disciples and the Wanxiang Adept death-sworn, all of them, Ji Ning and the others unleashed their most powerful techniques.

In truth, any one of them—Ji Ning, Yu Wei, or the others—could have fought evenly with that Primal-level demoness! But she, combining her power with the thousand Dao-soldiers, erupted with a strength that far surpassed any one of them.

With a thunderous crash, Ji Ning’s sword-light, the others’ spells and techniques either scattered or were sent flying backwards.

The Zifu Disciples formed a formation to resist together.

“We have to be quick, quick, quick! We have to seize the key to the Immortal estate. If we’re too slow, those old bastards will snatch it.” The Primal-level mermaid demoness leading the demonic Dao-soldiers sent a mental message. “My children, destroy these humans.”

“Kill!”

The thousand demonic Dao-soldiers attacked as one, and Ji Ning and the others simply couldn’t withstand them.

A surging tidal wave crashed directly towards them. Ji Ning and the others were forced to retreat again and again. But the weaker Zifu Disciples began to suffer casualties. Although they had formed a formation, it was utterly useless against the demonic Dao-soldier formation.

Pfft.

The human Zifu Disciples coughed up blood, or had their bodies shattered, and began to die off one by one.

If not for Ji Ning and the others trying their utmost to hold the line, all of the Zifu Disciples would likely have been dead in a single breath.

“This is brutal,” Mu Northson sent. “Senior apprentice-brother, that Shaoyin Nong definitely has all sorts of treasures on him, but he won’t use a single one. He’s just watching these Zifu Disciples die.”

“We’ve only just entered the Immortal estate. Of course Shaoyin Nong isn’t going to use his precious treasures yet,” Ji Ning sent back.

Ji Ning, Yu Wei, Nine Lotos… all of them had some life-saving methods.

But none of them would use them now. After all, they had only just entered the Immortal estate.

Shaoyin Nong stood there watching, guarded by the swarthy middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man watched silently as their Zifu Disciples were killed one by one. His expression didn’t change at all. He was staring intently at that surging tidal wave in the distance. The entire formation of demonic Dao-soldiers had turned into that wave… and the flow of Yuan power within it was profound and mysterious.

Just then.

The swarthy middle-aged man standing beside Shaoyin Nong’s eyes flashed with a cold light. He held a long shuttle in each hand. He took a sudden step forward, and his right arm began to swell and twist. Images of snakes coiled around his arm, and his now-huge, savage right arm erupted with power as he hurled it forward with all his might!

SWISH!

The black long shuttle tore through the air, leaving a dazzling trail in space, and stabbed directly into the wave formed by the thousand demonic Dao-soldiers.

“BOOM!!!”

A thunderous explosion.

That surging wave was directly blasted apart, dissipating into nothingness. Over a dozen of the demonic Dao-soldiers in mid-air had their bodies exploded into chunks of meat. The other Dao-soldiers were stunned, all of them turning to look at the swarthy middle-aged man who had thrown the shuttle.

“What? He found the central node of the entire Dao-soldier formation and broke it with a single strike, collapsing it?” The mermaid demoness was shocked. If he hadn’t hit the central node, the shuttle would have merely passed through the wave and wouldn’t have caused it to collapse.

The mermaid demoness turned her head to look at the swarthy middle-aged man.

But—

SWISH!

The shuttle in the swarthy middle-aged man’s left hand was also thrown like lightning. Snakes coiled around his left arm as well, making it equally thick and savage, radiating a terrifying aura. There was only a flash of light in the sky, leaving a dazzling trail, and the shuttle pierced directly through the body of the mermaid demoness, who tried to dodge but failed entirely!

“This, this…” The mermaid demoness’s face was filled with terror and despair. “How is he so powerful? I couldn’t even dodge. Is he… some human Immortal?” Her consciousness faded, and she fell limply from the sky. Her body had been pierced through; she was already dead!

“The king is dead!”

“The king is dead! Run, quick!”

“Run!”

Seeing their king killed so easily, the other mermaid great demons lost all will to fight. They began to flee in all directions.

“Swish!”

“Whoosh~”

“Boom!”

Naturally, Ji Ning, Yu Wei, Cangjiang Zhenren, and the others weren’t going to be merciful. After all, these monsters were wearing Dao-soldier armor, at least Zifu-grade, and some were even Wanxiang-grade. A single suit of Wanxiang-grade Dao-soldier armor was far more valuable than an Earth-ranked magic treasure.

“Two suits, three suits.” Mu Northson wasn’t holding back either, killing repeatedly and doing his best to loot.

After a moment.

The demonic Dao-soldiers had fled into the distance, leaving behind a pile of corpses. Ji Ning and the others had also collected a pile of Dao-soldier armor.

“We killed over two hundred demons, but we’ve lost over a hundred Zifu Disciples.” Shaoyin Nong’s expression wasn’t good. Although he had guessed the trial would be dangerous, he hadn’t expected such a heavy blow right after entering.

“Youngmaster Shaoyin.” The swarthy middle-aged man at his side retrieved his shuttles and said in a low voice, “We should hurry. More powerful demons will likely arrive soon.”

“Right.” Shaoyin Nong nodded.

“Let’s move.” Shaoyin Nong looked at Ji Ning and the others.

Just then—

A vast and powerful divine sense instantly swept across the entire region.

“Humans! You enter the Immortal estate and think you can leave alive?” A deep, booming voice rang out.

“Such a powerful divine sense.” When Ji Ning’s divine sense touched that will, he could feel its immense power. Even his own, which he was most confident in, was weaker than this one.

“Senior apprentice-brother, look.” Mu Northson stared into the distance.

“This is big trouble.” Cangjiang Zhenren also stared ahead.

Ji Ning looked.

In the distant sky, a surging, flood-like tidal wave, vast and massive, covered the heavens as it flew directly towards them.

The scale of this wave… was more than ten times larger than the previous one. And the aura it radiated was far more powerful than that of the earlier mermaid demon.

“There are tens of thousands of demonic Dao-soldiers!” The swarthy, narrow-eyed middle-aged man beside Shaoyin Nong said in a low voice.

Ji Ning and the others all felt their hearts sink.

Tens of thousands?

That was enough to rival the entire Snowdragon Mountain sect! The most fatal part was that these tens of thousands of monsters were all Dao-soldiers! A sect like Snowdragon Mountain couldn’t possibly afford to outfit that many Dao-soldier armor sets, especially not sets meant for Primal-level great demons. With such power, even an Immortal would tremble in fear.

“Youngmaster, I can’t hold them off,” the swarthy middle-aged man sent.