A One-Sided Gear-Check

The bearded man and the Donglin Sect Master advanced side by side, swift as lightning, and soon arrived at the region where the Ba Serpent was located.

“Whew.”

The bearded man let out a sigh of awe as he stared at the scene before him. The ten-thousand-li river seemed to have come alive, rampaging and surging wildly, smashing against everything in its path. The mountain peaks, gorges, and forests that lay in the river’s way were utterly incapable of stopping its charge; they were instantly smashed into fragments and scattered in all directions. As for the ‘Ba Serpent’ that was surrounded by the ten-thousand-li river, it was actually moving with arrogant abandon. Clearly, the river was only able to slightly bind it.

“Di Jiu, do you need my help?” The bearded man shouted at a high volume, his voice carrying through his elemental energy to resound throughout heaven and earth.

“Activate the formation. Don’t let Ji Ning escape.” The thousand-zhang Ba Serpent let out a furious roar.

“Rest assured.” The bearded man said with a smile, then glanced at the Donglin Sect Master beside him. “This little matter shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“You can be at ease, my lord.” The Donglin Sect Master immediately replied with deference.

Suddenly, the distant thousand-zhang Ba Serpent opened its massive, blood-red maw. Pfft! A human figure was directly spat out from within—it was the giant, youthful form wielding Three Heads, Six Arms. Ji Ning tumbled through the high air for a moment, then stabilized himself, standing in mid-air while holding six divine swords. He laughed heartily, “It seems your methods are only this much. And here I was told that even a Celestial Immortal Patriarch would die if they entered. Yet I’ve come out just fine, haven’t I?”

…

The moment Ji Ning emerged, he immediately sensed the surrounding formation.

The formation enveloped the area, making it impossible for his divine sense to probe.

“Candle Dragon Eye.” Ji Ning’s eyes blazed with candlelight as he gazed in every direction, but he found that he could only see for a thousand li at most. This was because fog shrouded the entire region, blocking all light. Even the ‘Candle Dragon Eye’ was unable to see farther. Without this divine ability, he likely would only have been able to see a single li.

Whoosh~~~

In the distance, the Ba Serpent floated in mid-air, its golden serpentine eyes locked onto Ji Ning as it spoke in human language, “Ji Ning, today you are doomed to die.”

“You talk big.” Ji Ning sneered coldly.

“You are trapped within the formation. Can you escape?” The Ba Serpent growled. “Even if you have a Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman, as long as we join forces, you won’t be able to use it to escape.”

Ji Ning stood in mid-air, pondering.

So-called Dao talismans and strange treasures were never absolutely invincible.

Take the ‘Lesser Teleportation Dao Talisman’ — to a Zifu Disciple or a Xiantian lifeform, it was a life-saving treasure. It could instantly teleport them ten thousand li away. But when it was activated, if the space had become turbulent due to the intensity of battle, or if space had been sealed, the Lesser Teleportation Dao Talisman would be completely useless!

By the same logic…

The Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman also had its limits!

Its life-saving power was indeed formidable; it could even ‘Greater Teleport’ from one world to another. But when one activated it, the power of the talisman would fuse the user with the very fabric of space. At that point, if the ‘talisman’s power’ was disrupted by an extremely powerful attack, the teleportation would be interrupted and could not proceed!

If the interference was weak, the Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman could ignore it.

For example, even a Primal Daoist or a Loose Immortal would find it difficult to shake the ‘power of the Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman’. Thus, to Primal Daoists and Return to Void Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals, it truly was a life-saving treasure.

But if the interference was strong, teleportation became impossible.

For example, if the attack was at the Celestial Immortal level. An attack from a Celestial Immortal was enough to disturb the Dao Talisman’s power!

A True Immortal or Empyrean God could even shatter the Dao Talisman into dust!

As for a Daofather? The Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman was a complete joke in front of a Daofather.

…

Earlier, while inside the Ba Serpent’s body, Ji Ning had faced attacks at any moment.

And the enemy’s attacks had been at the Celestial Immortal level — enough to disrupt the Dao Talisman’s power.

“If I’m pushed to the brink, I can just hide inside my portable immortal estate. Although its defensive power isn’t strong, it can still hold off their attacks for a breath or two. That’s enough time for me to activate a Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman and escape. But if I do that, I’ll have to abandon this portable immortal estate.” Ji Ning felt pained at the thought.

This portable immortal estate had been a free gift from the Yellow-Furred Bear, designed to conceal the ‘Aquatic Palace’.

But just considering its value alone, this immortal estate was even slightly better than the ‘Golden Light Immortal Estate’ he had given to his cousin-sister. It was likely worth over ten million jin of Primordial Liquid!

To survive by sacrificing both a ‘portable immortal estate’ and a ‘Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman’—Ji Ning would not choose this path unless it was the very last resort.

“Old Han, why haven’t you activated the formation’s power to attack Ji Ning?” The Ba Serpent let out a furious roar. “He has protective treasures on him. But once the power of those treasures is exhausted, let’s see how much longer he can hold on.”

“Haha, very well!”

The distant Han Da, who had been watching everything, laughed loudly in acknowledgement. He then instructed the Donglin Sect Master beside him, “Make your move. Use every means at your disposal. Let those useless trash from the Bloodcloud Hall see what true power is.”

“Yes, my lord.” The Donglin Sect Master replied respectfully.

This mountain range was the home base of the Donglin Sect. Naturally, it was protected by layer upon layer of grand formations that had been built up over countless generations. As the Sect Master, he was able to activate them! However, the even more terrifying formations personally set up by the Celestial Immortal ancestor, the ‘Silver-Armored General’, were unknown to the Donglin Sect Master.

But for dealing with external enemies, the Donglin Sect’s original formations were more than enough.

“Ashen Divine Fire!” The Donglin Sect Master immediately pulled out his sect’s truly formidable technique.

Instantly, the formation covering tens of thousands of li began to draw upon the power of heaven and earth. A massive amount of fire energy started to converge, and after being transformed by the formation, strands of dark red flame began to appear in mid-air. These flames seemed as though they might go out at any moment. One strand after another of dark red fire appeared everywhere, quickly coalescing into a fiery phoenix.

Whoosh!

The hundred-zhang-long dark red fiery phoenix flew directly towards Ji Ning.

“Roooar!” The Ba Serpent also let out a furious roar and charged once more at Ji Ning. The Ba Serpent’s tail was astonishingly powerful. At the same time, Immortal-ranked magic treasures flew out, along with a host of powerful spells, all of them joining the assault on Ji Ning.

“Ji Ning, the power of this Ashen Divine Fire is extraordinary. Even a Celestial Immortal dares not withstand it head-on. Even with protective treasures on you, how long can you hold out? Once the power of your treasures is exhausted, that will be the moment of your death.” The Ba Serpent attacked while simultaneously trying to shake Ji Ning’s resolve with its words.

“Use whatever you have. Do you really think this Ashen Divine Fire can do anything to me?” Ji Ning stood in mid-air, completely unconcerned.

As soon as the dark red fiery phoenix arrived, a massive amount of flame swiftly coiled around Ji Ning.

This Ashen Divine Fire only posed a real threat to Ki Refiners and Fiendgods whose physical defense was insufficient. It might be able to incinerate an Earth-ranked magic treasure, but it would struggle against a Heaven-ranked one. At best, it could damage a low-grade Heaven-ranked treasure; a decent Heaven-ranked treasure could ignore the fire entirely. As for Ji Ning’s Fiendgod body? It was even less of a concern.

“Hahaha…” Ji Ning laughed, his entire body radiating a faint golden light.

He deliberately released this golden light.

He wanted the enemy to believe he had a ‘protective treasure’, to hide the fact that he was training in the Eight-Nine Arcane Art. Although he knew that the Arcane Art would eventually be exposed with each battle, as long as he could make the enemy misjudge his true strength, he could use that to his advantage and kill them all in one fell swoop!

…

The Ashen Divine Fire scorched him. The thousand-zhang Ba Serpent besieged him. Immortal-ranked magic treasures transformed into massive mountains, coiling dragons and serpents, towering trees, as well as other spells, heavenly flames, divine lights, and more—they all came crashing down upon Ji Ning.

Ji Ning, in turn, sent his ten-thousand-li Boundless River surging forward, sweeping across everything in its path and suppressing all opposition. At the same time, his sword-light flashed in every direction, sending the flying treasures tumbling back through the air, as he acted with supreme, unmatched arrogance.

“Strange.”

“I’ve exhausted my elemental energy twice already, and I’ve consumed quite a few spirit pills. How is Ji Ning still holding on?”

“How is his protective treasure still active? The power in those treasures is usually infused by True Immortals or Empyrean Gods. Once it’s expended, it’s gone. How can he last this long?”

…

The watching Han Da was also frowning. “Doesn’t your Donglin Sect have the Seven Tribulation Thunder Formation? Hurry up and use it.”

The Donglin Sect Master hastily replied, “Yes, my lord.”

Immediately, dark clouds began to gather above the grand formation. Thunder and lightning appeared within the clouds, and bolt after bolt came crashing down, all of them targeting Ji Ning.

“Haha, this lightning isn’t even enough to tickle me.” The Three-Headed, Six-Armed Ji Ning stood in mid-air, surrounded by his ten-thousand-li Boundless River. While the flames scorched him, the heavenly thunder hammered him, the Ba Serpent attacked, and the flying treasures whirled about him—Ji Ning remained like a Buddhist Buddha, his entire body shining with golden light, his sword-light flashing in all directions as he casually deflected every attack.

Han Da watched, his brow furrowed. “This is getting troublesome.”

“Is this really all you’ve got? You’re usually so arrogant in front of us at the Bloodcloud Hall. How is it that you have no way to deal with him now?” The distant Ba Serpent was growing anxious, roaring out in a human voice.

“Hmph.”

Han Da gritted his teeth. With a wave of his hand, a strange puppet appeared beside him. It resembled a ‘cat’-like beast, but with three tails and a single eye. This strange beast puppet had four clawed feet, was roughly ten zhang long, and its back split open to reveal a tunnel. The bearded ‘Han Da’ flew directly into the puppet. With a series of clicking sounds, the tunnel on its back closed completely.

This puppet… was somewhat similar to a treasure ship or carriage.

One could pilot it to attack, or hide inside it for protection. It was an extremely precious puppet.

“I refuse to believe that a brat who has trained for less than a hundred years can be this powerful.” The ‘Three-Tailed Thundergod’ puppet let out a furious roar, transforming into a flash of lightning that shot towards Ji Ning in the distance.

A bolt of lightning streaked across the high sky in an arc, charging straight for Ji Ning.

Ji Ning took notice. His Candle Dragon Eyes blazed as he instantly saw clearly that it was a strange puppet. “It seems to have quite a bit of power. It would be hard to find a puppet this powerful even in my Black-White College. I didn’t expect this mysterious place to produce one this formidable.”

“But even so, it’s still no match for me.” To show his ‘welcome’, Ji Ning used his most powerful sword among the six—the Thousandbull Sword—to ‘greet’ it.

“Die!” The Three-Tailed Thundergod puppet swung its claw, which seemed to contain boundless power. Each of its razor-sharp, blade-like nails crackled with lightning as it aimed a fierce swipe at Ji Ning. Where the claw passed, space itself was torn apart.

A streak of sword-light transformed into a black divine dragon, howling as it met the claw head-on.

Boom~~~

The Three-Tailed Thundergod Beast was sent flying backwards before it finally managed to stabilize. Then, with another furious roar, it charged back into the attack.

No matter how furiously they attacked, even though Ji Ning’s six hands occasionally could not block dozens of attacks and his divine body was struck, the faintly glowing golden body effortlessly absorbed every blow without a scratch. The enemy still believed that Ji Ning’s ‘protective treasure’ was simply very special.

“Han Da, stop fooling around. Ji Ning has far too many tricks. We simply can’t do anything to him. Go find your master. Have him think of a plan. If even you people have no way, then our Bloodcloud Hall—success or failure—will have to use our final option.” The white-robed, blood-stained man who was the leader within the Ba Serpent sent a mental transmission.

“Fine. I’ll notify my master.” Han Da immediately sent a mental transmission back.