The Price of Betrayal

Ji Ning stood alone by the railing of the ship, watching the surging river waters. His mood was excellent.

He had taken on a disciple. Among the twelve demon kings of the Eastern Flow, he could probably scrape together ten who were guilty of grave sins. The only problem was that these demon kings were extremely difficult to deal with.

“Mm?”

Ji Ning suddenly looked into the distance.

On the distant shore, a large group of figures was rapidly approaching. They moved so fast that even Ji Ning’s naked eye could make out the ‘Firewing’ emblem on their dao-soldier armor.

“Firewing Guards?” Ji Ning remarked with a surprised laugh. “Several hundred of them, at that.”

Inside the ship’s cabin, Prince Qi Rufeng and the other members of the Qi Kingdom royalty were also observing the Evil Dragon River through the windows, searching for a suitable hiding place.

“That is…” The prince and princesses all turned pale.

“Several hundred Firewing Guards?” The violet-robed girl, Qi Ruhui, turned even paler. Earlier, just twelve Firewing Guards had terrorized them. Several hundred? Even an Earth Immortal or a Loose Immortal would probably die!

“Bad!” Prince Qi Rufeng’s face went white, and he transmitted urgently, “It must be because all twelve of the previous Firewing Guards died without a single one escaping. That’s why they’ve sent this many this time.”

Throughout their flight, the Firewing Guards had always held the upper hand.

The royal family had been fleeing and fleeing, and the Firewing Guards had never been wiped out. Moreover, Prince Qi Rufeng had only recently taken command. Previously, the royal team had still had Primal Daoists, and the elders had made the decisions. But now all the Primal Daoists were dead, and the decisions fell to Qi Rufeng.

Qi Rufeng had no experience, and he had never seen the Firewing Guards wiped out before. It had never occurred to him that the complete annihilation of that Firewing squad would lead to such a terrifying consequence.

“There are three squads in total. Each squad is led by a Loose Immortal, with eleven Primal-level great demons and over a hundred Wanxiang-level great demons,” the black-robed girl transmitted gravely. “With so many Firewing Guards united, even a top-tier Loose Immortal would probably fall.”

“Why aren’t we running?” the violet-robed girl transmitted urgently. “That Northmont is only a Primal Daoist. Even if his Dao comprehension is high enough to fight across realms and match a top Loose Immortal, that’s his limit. Against so many Firewing Guards, including three Loose Immortal old demons, he definitely can’t hold out!”

While the Qi royalty panicked, the hundreds of Firewing Guards on the distant shore had already activated their dao-soldier formation. Each of the three squads was commanded by a Loose Immortal old demon. One Loose Immortal commanded eleven Primal-level great demons, and each Primal-level great demon commanded eleven Wanxiang-level great demons. Instantly, three enormous thousand-zhang Firewing Centipedes appeared on the riverbank.

Wings of fire, bodies like centipedes.

The three enormous Firewing Centipedes radiated an overwhelming, murderous aura that suppressed even the surging river waves, flattening them instantly.

“Boom!”

The three thousand-zhang Firewing Centipedes all crossed the river, treading on the waves as they charged at Ji Ning’s ship.

Ji Ning stood by the railing and shouted, “Withdraw at once, and you might keep your lives.”

“So it was you protecting the Qi royalty.” One of the three Firewing Centipedes let out a rumbling roar. “Human, this is the territory of Firewing Demon King. How dare you act recklessly?”

“Don’t waste words with him. Kill him.”

“Kill this human.”

The antagonism between the human and demon races was almost universal throughout the Three Realms.

After all, the two strongest races in the Three Realms were the human race and the demon race.

Ji Ning shook his head slightly.

Three Loose Immortal old demons? They were probably about as strong as that Floating Cloud Loose Immortal who had once tried to assassinate him. Back then, he could already fight Floating Cloud Loose Immortal. Now, his second true body had also advanced an entire major realm, and his comprehension of the ‘Dao of the Sword’ was immeasurably higher. Killing these Loose Immortals was truly like killing chickens.

Accompanied by three bursts of splashing water, the three enormous thousand-zhang Firewing Centipedes charged forward, intending to surround Ji Ning and kill him in one smooth, seamless attack.

Ji Ning, however, was utterly calm.

To deal with these hundreds of Firewing Guards, merely using his ‘Domain of the Dao’ would not be enough. He would have to strike. But even so, it was still easy.

“Hurry.”

“Let’s go.”

“If we delay, we won’t be able to escape.”

The Qi royalty did not dare to hesitate. If they hesitated any longer, they would probably die.

In their eyes, no matter how high Ji Ning’s realm was, he was still a Primal Daoist. Being able to hold his own against hundreds of Firewing Guards led by three Loose Immortals would already be a remarkable feat.

“Let’s go.”

Prince Qi Rufeng waved his hand, and a long shuttle appeared beside the ship.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The prince, princesses, and five maidservants all leaped into it.

“Go!” The violet-robed girl flipped her hand and flung out a large number of green bamboo stalks, which descended from the sky and plunged into the waves.

Swoosh!

The long shuttle shot through the waves like lightning.

The green bamboo, several hundred of them, were scattered in a wide arc, completely enclosing Ji Ning and the three thousand-zhang Firewing Centipedes. The bamboo had leaves that fluttered, and in an instant the surrounding space turned into a void, the waves vanishing entirely.

“Little sister, you, you…” Prince Qi Rufeng, inside the fleeing shuttle, was greatly alarmed.

The violet-robed girl turned her head to look at the tall bamboos behind her, then said with a disdainful laugh, “What? That Northmont Daoist is only at the Primal level. At best, he has the strength of a top-tier Loose Immortal. Even so, he probably can’t defeat the Firewing Guards. Since that’s the case, we should make the best use of everything. Let him contribute more to our royal family—consider it a small payment for taking Xiao Yu as his disciple.”

“You… you fool!” Qi Rufeng was speechless with anger. “This Northmont Daoist is so powerful. If he has a master behind him, that master must be terrifyingly strong.”

“So what? Who will know?” The violet-robed girl was unimpressed.

The black-robed girl said urgently, “Little sister, given this Northmont Daoist’s strength, he probably has a Celestial Immortal ancestor behind him. A Celestial Immortal can investigate past events. When they do…”

“Relax. Even if they find out, so what? Even if this Northmont Daoist really has a Celestial Immortal master, that Celestial Immortal can’t find us. But that Celestial Immortal will certainly know that the Northmont Daoist died at the hands of the Firewing Guards. Who knows—maybe Northmont’s sect will go after the Firewing Demon King!” The violet-robed girl’s eyes held a hint of madness. “Heh heh, maybe the Firewing Demon King will be killed. That would be well worth it!”

Ji Ning waved his hand to collect the surrounding ship, and the disciple inside, Qi Xiao Yu, was also taken into his随身 immortal estate.

“Hmph.”

Ji Ning watched the Qi royalty flee and saw the little princess throw out the treasure, causing the bamboos to descend and set up a formation. He understood their intention immediately: to trap him and those Firewing Guards. Otherwise, if just one of the three thousand-zhang Firewing Centipedes split off to chase them, they would be in huge trouble!

Now, trapped inside the formation, the three Firewing Centipedes would certainly join forces to kill Ji Ning first before breaking the formation. This forced Ji Ning to go all-out.

If Ji Ning’s strength were really what the Qi royalty had guessed, he might indeed have been worn down and eventually died—just as the little princess had planned.

Unfortunately, they had guessed wrong!

Ji Ning’s sect was powerful, far beyond their imagination. His master was Patriarch Subhuti, the creator of this major world!

Ji Ning’s strength was also far beyond their imagination!

“Kill him first, then break the formation.”

“Kill.”

The three thousand-zhang Firewing Centipedes were not panicked at all. They were absolutely confident that they could kill this human and then break the formation. It would only take a little more time. The Qi royalty were stained with Firewing poison and would be caught sooner or later anyway.

“Die.” Ji Ning’s expression was grim. He had been protecting them, and they had stabbed him in the back. How could he not be furious?

In his fury, Ji Ning had no time to waste. He wanted to settle accounts with the Qi royalty properly.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

Ji Ning stood on the water, the Northsea Sword appearing in his hand. He struck out three sword-lights directly!

Three dazzling streaks of sword-light transformed into three enormous black dragons, radiating overwhelming might. They charged toward the three thousand-zhang Firewing Centipedes with the force of a devastating storm, crushing everything in their path.

“What!”

“Impossible!”

“No—”

The Loose Immortal old demons, the Primal-level great demons, and the Wanxiang-level great demons of the three Firewing Centipedes were all stunned, completely terrified.

The three black dragons pounced, one each. They seemed like dragons, but in truth were a terrifying sword-light that directly destroyed the thousand-zhang Firewing Centipedes. Boom! Boom! Boom! Hundreds of demons, including the Loose Immortal old demons, were all killed!

Their truesouls were utterly annihilated!

The might of Ji Ning’s enraged sword-art was enough to wipe out even gods and souls. The dao-soldier armor on those Wanxiang-level great demons was directly shattered, and many magic treasures were broken.

“Break!” Ji Ning struck out with another sword-light.

This type of disposable formation contained its own energy and was mainly used to trap enemies.

But Ji Ning couldn’t be bothered with any other method. He simply used brute force to break it. A single streak of sword-light swept past, and the bamboos were shattered into pieces.

“Swoosh.” Ji Ning took a single step and gave chase.

Inside the long shuttle, which was fleeing like a bolt of lightning, the violet-robed girl’s eyes were wild. “Heh heh, maybe the Firewing Demon King will be killed. That would be well worth it. Hahaha, I’m so clever! I was just thinking that I needed to make that Northmont useful before he died, to buy us some time. Now it turns out this was a brilliant move!”

“Brilliant, indeed.” An icy voice rang out.

The prince and princesses in the shuttle all shuddered. They turned their heads.

Standing at the tail of the shuttle was a young man.

Ji Ning looked at the three princes and princesses.

“Impossible…” They were all dumbfounded.

They had just fled and exchanged only a few sentences—such a brief moment! How could they have known that Ji Ning had killed the hundreds of Firewing Guards in a single strike, then broken the formation by force, and chased them down, all in that blink of an eye? Naturally, it was very fast.

“Senior Northmont.” Qi Rufeng quickly stood up.

“Bang.”

Ji Ning’s gaze landed on the violet-robed girl. A streak of sword-qi flashed past, and the violet-robed girl was directly shredded into ashes, scattering into the air. At Ji Ning’s current realm, even a slight touch from his sword-qi meant utter annihilation—the soul and body, both extinguished.