The Nine Heavens Divine-Poison Furnace

Ji Ning stood in midair, controlling the River of Su.

“Mm?” Ji Ning’s expression suddenly changed.

He saw floating peaks suspended in the sky to the east, west, south, and north—nine peaks in total. On each peak, enormous fiery red runic patterns swirled and drifted. Ji Ning’s pupils contracted. “Using mountain peaks as formation plates? Refining mountain peaks into magic treasures and then forming a grand formation with them?”

Ji Ning was no novice in formations. He understood formations quite well, and he knew that such a massive undertaking meant this was a first-class grand formation. Perhaps it was slightly inferior to the peerless killing formation of Yan Mountain, but it was likely already capable of threatening even a Celestial Immortal. As for how strong it truly was, he would only know once he actually experienced it.

“Who exactly sent these assassins after me? And they even have such terrifying methods?” Ji Ning still did not know with certainty who wanted him dead. He had suspects, but no absolute proof.

“Hooooo…”

The nine floating peaks at the edge of the sky suddenly shot streaks of runic light across the heavens, linking together. Like chains connecting the peaks, countless fiery red runic lights soon wove them into a single entity.

Swoosh.

The Bashe serpent that had been locked in battle with Ji Ning suddenly began to retreat, trying to flee.

“Trying to leave?” Ji Ning, who had been fighting the Bashe at close quarters, let out a loud roar. “Since I’m being attacked by this grand formation, don’t think any of you can escape either!” He instantly activated his divine ability, the Nine Heavens Annihilating Wind, and chased after it, far faster than the Bashe. He transformed into a hundred-zhang giant, sat down heavily on the Bashe’s body, and grabbed hold of it.

No matter how the Bashe twisted and struggled, even sweeping its tail, Ji Ning clung to it firmly.

“Since the grand formation is going to attack me, all of you can taste its power too!” Ji Ning said with wild, unbridled laughter, his hair disheveled.

“Trouble.”

“Captain, this Ji Ning is too fast. The Bashe can’t shake him off. He’s riding the Bashe now. When the grand formation strikes, we’ll be caught in it too.”

“This killing formation of the Donglin Mountain range is the ‘Nine Heavens Divine-Poison Cauldron of Flame’! We can’t withstand that.”

“Don’t panic. The general won’t act recklessly. They will definitely control the ‘Nine Heavens Divine-Poison Cauldron of Flame’ and focus its power on Ji Ning. At most, the Bashe will suffer a little spillover damage,” the captain transmitted.

Just as this group from the Bloodcloud Hall was discussing among themselves, a swirling flame appeared in the sky.

The flame was a mixture of two colors.

The outer body was an emerald green, but at its core was a violet flame.

“Boom rumble…” The flame continued to spin. The more it spun, the larger it grew, until it reached the limit of what the grand formation could bear. It became as massive as a small mountain peak. Within the flame, crackling sounds could be heard—the sound of lightning flashing from the violet core flame.

Ji Ning, riding the Bashe and controlling the River of Su, looked up. “So it’s the Nine Heavens Divine-Poison Flame…”

After all, he was a disciple of Mount Innerheart. Having spent so long on the mountain, he had naturally read through many common informational texts. He knew that the Nine Heavens Divine-Poison Flame was a type of flame at the ‘True Fire’ level. However, because it was too chaotic and vile, mixing several types of power, it was impossible for immortals to nurture such a flame within their bodies.

“Boom!!!”

The mountain-sized flame shot downward with terrifying force.

The Bashe struggled desperately, but Ji Ning sat on it, refusing to let it escape.

“Whoosh~~”

The mountain-like flame engulfed Ji Ning completely. However, under the control of the nine demon guards, the flame was highly intelligent and only covered Ji Ning’s upper body, barely touching the Bashe. Of course, Ji Ning did his best to wrestle with the Bashe, trying to force it into contact with the flame.

“Haha! This Nine Heavens Divine-Poison Flame is nice and toasty, like a hot bath!” Ji Ning, wreathed in flames like a demon god, laughed loudly as he held onto the Bashe. “Come on, let’s wash together!”

“What?”

“How is this possible?”

“This, this…”

Both the Bloodcloud Hall team and the silver-armored general and his men were dumbfounded.

The silver-armored general was shocked. “He’s using his body to tank it head-on? He didn’t hide inside his portable immortal mansion?” He had originally expected Ji Ning to retreat into his portable immortal mansion. Once he did, the Bloodcloud Hall members would immediately tear space open and send the mansion to some ‘dangerous place.’ There were many terrifying, dangerous places in the Three Realms. If one hid in a portable immortal mansion without immediately using a Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman, entering one of those dangerous zones was almost certain death.

“Even the Nine Heavens Divine-Poison Flame can’t hurt him?” The black-robed youth beside him was stunned. “How is that possible? This is the Nine Heavens Divine-Poison Flame!”

“Why not? Can’t you see it with your own eyes?” the silver-armored youth said in a low voice.

Han Da and the Donglin Sect Master were also shocked.

The Donglin Sect Master looked on enviously at Ji Ning, who was like a legendary, invincible demon god. The terrifying Nine Heavens Divine-Poison Flame and the Bashe both seemed like mere toys to him, completely unable to harm him in the slightest.

“A protective treasure? Or a protective divine ability?” The silver-armored youth stared at Ji Ning, whose body was faintly shining with golden light amidst the flames. “Holding out this long with a protective treasure is almost unbelievable. Still, it’s possible he was granted some rare treasure by a Daofather. But if it’s a protective divine ability… it can only be the legendary Eight-Nine Arcane Art.”

“If it’s the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, that’s terrifying. In the Three Realms, only a very few True Gods and Daofathers possess it, and they generally only teach it to their personal disciples,” the silver-armored youth thought with shock.

In the Three Realms, True Gods and Daofathers were each sovereigns in their own domains. Even among them, very few possessed the Eight-Nine Arcane Art. Most True Gods and Daofathers, like Grand Emperor Xuanwu, Daofather Crimsonbright, and many others, simply did not have it, let alone teach it to disciples. Thus, very few in the Three Realms possessed this divine ability.

Those who did possess it were inevitably the personal disciples of the most顶尖 Daofathers!

“Even if it’s a protective treasure, being gifted something like that means his background is terrifyingly immense,” the silver-armored youth mused.

“Demon guards! Since the Nine Heavens Divine-Poison Flame cannot harm Ji Ning, withdraw the Nine Heavens Divine-Poison Cauldron of Flame!” the silver-armored youth immediately transmitted the order.

“Yes.”

The nine demon guards acknowledged and complied.

Immediately, the nine floating peaks suspended in the sky at every direction withdrew their runic light. The peaks then began to descend.

“Di Jiu,” the silver-armored youth transmitted directly.

“General,” Di Jiu responded.

“Even my killing formation here can’t do anything to him. I’m giving up on this side. Whatever you of the Bloodcloud Hall want to do, I don’t care anymore,” the silver-armored youth said.

Di Jiu replied, “I understand. This mission would be insufficient even with ten top-grade Immortal-ranked treasures, let alone three. I won’t trouble you further, General. I have no other choice but the last resort.”

“Mm,” the silver-armored youth acknowledged.

…

Ji Ning sat on the Bashe, watching the Nine Heavens Divine-Poison Flame dissipate, and smiled. He had long known the power of this flame, and his own body was more than enough to ignore it.

“Tell me, who sent you? Who ordered my assassination?” Ji Ning shouted. “Speak, and I’ll let you go. Otherwise, I’ll keep clinging to you. Even though I can’t escape this grand formation alone, you’ll be trapped here with me!”

“Ji Ning, we admit you’re powerful, but threatening us? Hmph!”

The Bashe spoke in human tongue, then suddenly shot into the distance.

Ji Ning stayed on the Bashe, following it.

Trapped inside the grand formation, he might need a Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman to escape on his own. But if he held onto the Bashe, unless the Bashe was willing to stay in the formation forever, he would escape whenever it did. That was the reason Ji Ning kept holding on.

“Hoooosh~~” The Bashe flew through the air, crossing mountains and forests, with many formations automatically giving way.

Suddenly—

Boom!

The thousand-zhang Bashe abruptly dissipated into nothingness, revealing twelve white-robed figures. Among them, a white-robed man streaked with blood waved his hand, collecting the other eleven, then flew swiftly toward a spot not far ahead. On the ground in front of him was a pitch-black, misty cave entrance.

Swoosh!

Because the Bashe dissipated while the blood-streaked white-robed man was already close to the cave entrance, he rushed inside in a flash.

“Swoosh.” Ji Ning chased after the white-robed man, intending to follow, but stopped abruptly just a few zhang from the entrance.

“Hm?” Ji Ning stared at the black, misty cave entrance.

The cave entrance was not large and looked ordinary, but he could not sense what lay inside at all. He could not detect even a trace of the white-robed man who had just fled into it.

“It seems… there’s something mysterious about this cave.” Ji Ning hesitated at the entrance. Unable to sense anything about the inside, he had no idea what was in there.

…

The Bashe had fled, Ji Ning had stubbornly clung to it, and then the Bashe had dispersed, allowing the Bloodcloud Hall members to escape into the black misty cave. All of this was witnessed by the distant silver-armored youth, the black-robed youth, Han Da, and the others.

“So the Bloodcloud Hall has finally used that last resort,” the black-robed youth said, his eyes shimmering with starlight as he observed the distant scene. “I wonder if Ji Ning will go in or not. If he does, he’s as good as dead.”

“A True Immortal or Empyrean God might survive going in there, but this Ji Ning? No matter how powerful his protective treasures or techniques, entering that cave means certain death,” the silver-armored youth said. “Among the Celestial Immortals killed by the Bloodcloud Hall, several foolishly chased after fleeing assassins and rushed right into that cave entrance.”

This entrance…

Was a passage.

A passage to a mysterious place, one that was tens of thousands, even millions of times more dangerous than the Donglin Mountains.

More to come today! It will be a bit later.