The Narrowing Noose

The black clouds were incredibly resilient, completely shrouding the area below. Those hundred-plus supreme-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords could not pierce through the black clouds, but… Ji Ning was simply too fast. Before the black clouds could block him, he had already slain over twenty black-robed Loose Immortals.

The silver-armored youth’s expression turned ugly.

“Break.” Ji Ning withdrew his many Immortal swords, simultaneously condensing the second-level sword-light of the Greater Thousand Swords Formation. This dazzling strand of sword-light transformed directly into a black divine dragon, ripping apart the black clouds as it tumbled and rampaged with arrogant abandon.

“Hmph.”

The silver-armored youth waved his hand and withdrew the black clouds, looking down. By now, the black-robed figures had already fled.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Bronze Demon Guards flew over from all directions, hovering in midair and arraying themselves behind the silver-armored youth.

“All Demon Guards, form the formation! Surround and attack!” The silver-armored youth pointed down and shouted. “Do not act alone.”

“Yes!”

Immediately, every nine Bronze Demon Guards formed a squad, merging midair into a hundred-zhang-tall divine beast. It resembled a tiger, but with longer claws, longer fangs, and long, hanging fur. Its eyes glowed with a cold, cyan light.

“A Pixiu beast?” Ji Ning was startled. “Last time I encountered Bloodcloud Tower’s Basnake formation, and now this time I’ve run into a Pixiu formation. This force is truly formidable.”

Ancestor Dragon was born from the primordial chaos. She was the most ancient dragon since the beginning of chaos, even older than Torch Dragon. She was the very first dragon, and thus known as ‘Ancestor Dragon’.

Ancestor Dragon had nine sons.

Each of the nine sons was innately endowed with tremendous power, and the Pixiu was one of them.

“Kill!”

“Kill him!”

Three Pixiu divine beasts dove straight down from midair. Ji Ning looked up at the three Pixiu, then felt a tremor from the castle behind him. He turned his head to look and saw a fourth ‘Pixiu divine beast’ charging out from the castle’s main gate.

There were also some Bronze Demon Guards in the castle, but Ji Ning had killed so quickly that they hadn’t had time to assemble into their formation.

“This white-robed man’s Immortal swords are powerful; he must be a formidable Ki Refining Sword Immortal. Ki Refining Sword Immortals are strong… but they fear close combat the most. We’ll surround him; as long as we get one claw on him, he’s dead.”

“Kill him, or else both the General and we are doomed.”

All of them were determined to kill.

None of them wanted Ji Ning to leave alive, because the forging of golems in the Eastwood Mountains was an extremely secret affair. If this stronghold were exposed… once the Grand Xia Dynasty learned of it, they would begin a frantic, targeted investigation, which would likely reveal even more strongholds.

It must be understood… not a single stronghold had been exposed so far! Although the Grand Xia Dynasty had found some places a bit ‘suspicious’, they didn’t know what they were for, so the Grand Xia Dynasty hadn’t made any rash moves.

This Eastwood Mountains stronghold was simply unlucky.

After all, within the entire Grand Xia world, Ji Ning was the only one who knew the ‘Seventy-Two Transformations’. Only he could silently infiltrate such a place. Anyone else would be unable to enter and discover this great secret.

“I can’t let him escape!” The silver-armored youth’s eyes flickered coldly as he stared at Ji Ning from high in the sky. “If he escapes, my troubles will be huge. The Cave Lord will surely place all the blame on me!”

…

Four Pixiu divine beasts came with boundless might, each one not inferior to the ‘Basnake’ that Bloodcloud Tower had used to assassinate Ji Ning back then. But Ji Ning was no longer the same person he had been. After training the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens to the sixteenth stage, his power had taken a massive leap forward.

“Get lost!”

An enormous hand, also a hundred zhang in size, slammed into one of the Pixiu divine beasts. The Pixiu roared and lashed out with its claws, each blade-like nail incredibly long and sharp.

BOOM!!!

The massive, golden-glowing hand directly sent that Pixiu divine beast flying back. The other three Pixiu divine beasts madly joined the assault, but Ji Ning swung his other hand as well. As it swung, the hand grew larger on the wind, instantly reaching a hundred zhang in size, and sent another Pixiu beast flying.

“Three Heads, Six Arms.” Ji Ning transformed, manifesting three heads and six arms. Six enormous hands began slapping in every direction.

His hands possessed the might of Pure Yang treasures. They were far better than using Immortal swords, which also consumed Ki power. The ‘Starseizing Hand’ had already tempered his hands into treasures, just like the ‘Eight-Nine Arcane Art’. The hands themselves didn’t require Divine Power to use, but the tremendous force unleashed by the Starseizing Hand divine ability did consume Divine Power.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” Six enormous hands, each one shimmering with a sharp, metallic light akin to a sword’s edge, either slapped, chopped, or stabbed.

The four Pixiu divine beasts attacked wildly, but were sent flying back time and time again.

“General!”

“General, this man is a Fiendgod! And his divine body is incredibly strong, as if made of diamond. He has been blocking our attacks with just his hands!”

One Bronze Demon Guard after another sent telepathic messages to the silver-armored youth.

The silver-armored youth watched the scene from high above, his expression ugly. “I didn’t expect his close combat to be even more formidable than his sword formation.” In truth, if he used Immortal swords, Ji Ning’s close combat would be weaker, but right now, with his hands, they were actually stronger than the second level of the Greater Thousand Swords Formation.

“Haha, General, do you still wish to fight? You can’t do anything to me, and I can leave whenever I want.” Ji Ning’s loud laughter rang out from below.

“Stop!” The silver-armored youth bellowed.

The four Pixiu divine beasts immediately retreated, hovering by the silver-armored youth’s side as they stared at the white-robed Ji Ning. They were all a bit shocked… The combined might of their thirty-six Bronze Demon Guards was unable to handle this man. No wonder he had casually slaughtered his way out of the castle earlier.

“With your strength, you could have used a Greater Teleportation Dao-talisman to leave while you were still in the castle.” The silver-armored youth’s voice was cold. “But you didn’t. It must be for Mu Northson.”

Ji Ning was startled.

He had long since used the Seventy-Two Transformations to change his appearance and aura. How did this General directly bring up ‘Mu Northson’?

“Ji Ning.” The silver-armored youth looked down at him, his voice cold. “Did you think I wouldn’t guess it was you? Throughout the entire Grand Xia world, the only person who can silently infiltrate a forbidden area is you, with your Seventy-Two Transformations. And when I investigated, I found that the only one missing from the castle was the puppet grandmaster, Mu Northson. If anyone would come to rescue Mu Northson, the only person I could think of was you, Ji Ning.”

“I wasn’t sure you had cultivated the Eight-Nine Arcane Art before, but I am now.”

The silver-armored youth let out a cold laugh.

The white-robed youth below laughed heartily, then shook his body and transformed back into the fur-clad Ji Ning.

“Yes, it’s me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide the fact that I’d trained in the Eight-Nine Arcane Art for long. Last time you trapped me in the Eastwood Mountains, I didn’t expect you to figure it out this time.” Ji Ning said, “I know that divine golem of yours is very important. I can give it to you, but you have to let my junior apprentice-brother, Mu Northson, go free.”

“A trade for my junior apprentice-brother’s freedom is well worth a golem valued at a top-grade Pure Yang treasure, wouldn’t you say?” Ji Ning offered.

“Worth it? No. That golem is only half-forged, not yet complete. It doesn’t have much value at all.” The silver-armored youth said.

“It may have little value to outsiders, but it has great value to you. You could easily finish the forging yourselves.” Ji Ning looked up at the silver-armored youth. “I only have one request: set my junior apprentice-brother free.”

“Hahaha… Free?”

The silver-armored youth laughed in fury. “If I set Mu Northson free, who will set me free?”

Ji Ning was stunned.

Who would set him free?

“You have discovered this forbidden area. The secrets of this area have been leaked. If I don’t kill you, how can I escape punishment?” The silver-armored youth’s face twisted with rage. “You and your junior apprentice-brother will both die!”

Ji Ning understood now. This mysterious force used a strict hierarchy of ‘Demon Slaves’, ‘Demon Servants’, ‘Demon Guards’, and ‘Demon Generals’, like a military organization. By barging in and discovering the secrets of this forbidden area, the moment those secrets were leaked, this mysterious force would be put in a very passive position.

“Wait a moment.” Ji Ning quickly interjected. “I am willing to swear a Heavenly Oath not to leak the secrets of the Eastwood Mountains forbidden area. I will also return the divine golem to you. Just let my junior apprentice-brother go free.”

“Even if you swear a Heavenly Oath, my superiors will still punish me. The only way I can be safe is if you die.” The silver-armored youth’s voice was low. “Do you think that just because you have cultivated the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, I can do nothing to you? Heh… I’ve killed a pile of Celestial Immortals before. What makes you think a mere Void-level cultivator like you is anything special?”

As his voice fell, a green snake, over ten li in length, appeared in the high sky. It was very slender and came coiling directly towards Ji Ning.

“A rope?” Ji Ning was shocked.

Divine abilities like the Eight-Nine Arcane Art were most vulnerable to binding-type treasures. If he were bound by this rope, he wouldn’t be able to use Dao-talismans or enter his Immortal estate. That would be a true disaster.

So—he absolutely could not allow himself to be bound.

“I only ask you to set my junior apprentice-brother free.” Several Immortal swords floated around Ji Ning, condensing into a single sharp strand of golden sword-light before him.

“The only way I can get out of this is by killing you.” The silver-armored youth roared.

The golden sword-light and the massive green serpent clashed in the high sky. The serpent, formed from the rope, possessed immense power. With a single collision, it sent the black divine dragon formed from the golden sword-light scattering in utter collapse.

“If you refuse, I’ll beat you until you agree!” Ji Ning was enraged as well. A black-robed Ji Ning suddenly appeared beside him.

The two Ji Nings stood side-by-side.

In midair, a total of three hundred and twenty-four supreme-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords appeared. The true body and the Primaltwin each controlled ‘one hundred and sixty-two’ of them. It must be remembered that the true body and the Primaltwin shared the same memories and were of one mind, and both trained in the Northsea Classic with the same Ki power. Both were at the late-stage Void level.

The Ki power from the Northsea Classic was poured into each supreme-grade Immortal-ranked flying sword. Although they were controlled separately by the true body and the Primaltwin, it was as if a single person was controlling them all!

In an instant, over three hundred supreme-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords were completely united!

“Huum, huum, huum…”

A golden Immortal sword, carrying a terrifying oppressive aura, appeared suspended before the true body and the Primaltwin.

The fourth level of the Greater Thousand Swords Formation!

This was the absolute strongest combat power of Ji Ning’s Ki Refining arts! Even stronger than his true body’s close combat!

“KILL!” The fur-clad Ji Ning and the black-robed Ji Ning both let out furious roars!