The Furnace Tribe Breaks Free

“Die? Just because of these three bizarre beasts?” The three-hundred-zhang tall giant Ji Ning laughed loudly, continuing to frantically and swiftly pull the bronze pillar. The power surging from beneath the pillar was growing stronger, making Ji Ning’s task easier and easier.

“You!”

The single-horned, golden-robed figure was furious. Due to the extreme caution he had developed since the primordial Pangu Chaosworld, he never brought all of his bizarre beasts with him in a single clone! This clone of his had brought three powerful beasts to guard the tribe for a long time... while his other clones were hidden in various other places, naturally possessing other poisonous insects and strange beasts. This made the single-horned, golden-robed figure feel incomparable rage. If he had brought all of his poisonous insects and bizarre beasts, he could probably have easily suppressed the bronze pillar.

But—

Not bringing all of his poisonous insects and bizarre beasts into a single clone was an ironclad rule! It was the primary reason he had lived for endless years! He would rather pay a tremendous price than violate this iron rule.

“Hmph. The Eight-Nine Arcane Art.” The single-horned figure transmitted coldly. “The Eight-Nine Arcane Art is formidable, but you haven’t even passed the Heavenly Tribulation yet. If I truly wanted to deal with you... you would undoubtedly die.”

“Come on. Use whatever means you have.” Ji Ning gave a contemptuous laugh.

The single-horned figure’s eyes flickered with cold light as he transmitted, “Fine. My Shaoyin clan is willing to reconcile with you. As long as you agree to stop pulling the bronze pillar, and even help us push it back down, my Shaoyin clan will definitely not make trouble for you again.”

“You call this a reconciliation? You won’t make trouble for me? I’m still going to make trouble for you! Did you think the complete annihilation of the Yuchi clan could just be brushed aside like that?” Ji Ning was enraged.

“The annihilation of the Yuchi clan?” The single-horned figure’s status was extremely lofty; he didn’t even know about such a trivial matter as the destruction of the Yuchi clan. He immediately transmitted, “Fine. As long as I capture every single member of the Shaoyin clan who decided to annihilate the Yuchi clan and all those who took part in it, I will hand them all over to you for punishment!”

These minor matters were usually decided by the Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals within the tribe.

For the Shaoyin Patriarch, a single seclusion might last millions of years. By the time he came out, a whole generation of Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals, who generally lived for tens of thousands of years, would have been replaced. Most Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals would live their entire lives without ever qualifying to meet this Patriarch.

It wasn’t just abandoning a few Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals; even if he let every single Loose Immortal and Earth Immortal in the tribe die, the Shaoyin Patriarch wouldn’t care.

“Is it that simple?” Ji Ning transmitted back with a cold laugh. “What about the time Ancestor Xuanji had people assassinate me? What about the time the souls of my blood-brother’s Dao-companion were obliterated by your Shaoyin clan’s four Celestial Immortals? Can those be brushed aside just like that? If you truly want a reconciliation, I’m willing to nod my head. However, it’s not just everyone who was involved in the affair of the Yuchi clan being delivered to me. It also includes the five Celestial Immortals, including Ancestor Xuanji! All of them must die! Then, and only then, will this matter be settled!”

“You go too far.” The Shaoyin Patriarch was enraged.

“Then don’t even talk about reconciliation.” Ji Ning continued to madly pull at the bronze pillar. By now, the pillar was actually starting to surge upward on its own. Even if Ji Ning stopped pulling, the power welling up from beneath the pillar had already completely surpassed the combined power of the Celestial Immortals and the three bizarre beasts above.

“You can have any Loose Immortal, Earth Immortal, or mortal you want killed. But Celestial Immortals? Absolutely not. Not a single one!” The Shaoyin Patriarch was furious.

A tribe had to have its rules.

Sacrificing a few Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals for the tribe’s interests was nothing.

But if they sacrificed Celestial Immortals? The other Celestial Immortals would feel that the fox was grieving for the hare. This would make all the Celestial Immortals in the tribe uneasy. Celestial Immortals were, after all, the true foundation of the tribe. The Shaoyin Patriarch could never sacrifice a Celestial Immortal.

“I can compensate you with treasures.” The Shaoyin Patriarch quickly said.

“Hand over ten top-grade Pure Yang treasures. Can you do that?” Ji Ning countered.

The Shaoyin Patriarch was choked speechless.

Ten?

Did he think Pure Yang treasures were common? Despite being as powerful as he was, and having lived for endless years, he didn’t even possess ten top-grade Pure Yang treasures.

“Stop. Stop right now.” The Shaoyin Patriarch watched the pillar’s ascent and knew the situation was already out of control. If Ji Ning had agreed earlier and helped push it back down, they could have suppressed it. Now? With the pillar having risen this far, even if Ji Ning helped, he probably couldn’t push it back down.

“Ji Ning.” The Shaoyin Patriarch’s gloomy eyes were filled with mad killing intent. “I, Du Chou, swear that I WILL kill you! I will definitely kill you! Not just you, but your entire tribe. Every single one of your family members must die!”

“Rest assured, I will kill you too, hahaha...” Ji Ning looked up, his gaze flickering like candlelight as he clearly saw the golden-robed figure.

Boom! Rumble!

The bronze pillar surged upward rapidly. The power from beneath had far surpassed the power the Shaoyin clan could bring to bear above.

Ji Ning was adding fuel to the fire, pulling the pillar even faster. His six hands had become a blur.

“Damn it.” The Shaoyin Patriarch’s expression was ugly. He immediately transmitted orders, “Everyone, stop! Quickly set up the Eight Immortals Towning the Sea Formation!”

“Yes.”

The eight Celestial Immortals—Xuanji, Chixin, Jinzhong, Kumu, Jingyu, Huoba, Jinyun, Heiyu—all revered the commands of their Ancestral Master. They all gave up and flew high into the air. Even the three bizarre beasts completely gave up and flew into the sky.

The eight Celestial Immortals formed the formation, with the single-horned, golden-robed figure at the very center. The three bizarre beasts circled around them.

“It’s here.” The single-horned figure coldly looked down.

“Crack.” The bronze pillar suddenly stopped.

Ji Ning found that the pillar could no longer be pulled out. At this moment, the length of the pillar that had been exposed outside was already four thousand two hundred li.

“Rumble...”

A sound like heaven and earth was shattering rang out.

Ji Ning sensed that countless runic patterns on the fiery red rock beneath his feet were flashing. At the same time, the endless fiery red rock began to move. “Swoosh!” Under his divine sense, Ji Ning could see a crack suddenly appear in the vast red rock. A rift opened, growing larger and larger, extending outwards in both directions.

It was like the lid of a furnace being slowly lifted, revealing a seam.

“We’re out!”

“Finally out!”

One figure after another rapidly charged out of the rift. Their forms, which had been tiny before, instantly swelled as they shot out, transforming into Fiendgods a thousand zhang tall, and even ten thousand zhang tall! They let out excited, mad roars in the ancient Fiendgod tongue that shook the heavens. Just listening to those excited roars, one could feel the endless excitement and elation contained within those voices.

Just listening to the sounds brought a shock to the soul.

Everyone could feel the endless passion contained within those roars.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!!!” The earth collapsed as countless Fiendgods shot into the sky. Some had two horns with flames spurting from their nostrils. Others had the body of a beast and the face of a human. One was even a mass of black fog... All sorts of different Fiendgods—tall and mighty, cold and sinister, savage and insane.

Their sizes varied, and the entire region shattered under their assault.

“This... this...” Ji Ning was completely shocked.

“How many Fiendgods are there? And their auras... more than half of them are Void-level Fiendgods!” Ji Ning finally understood why the power under the bronze pillar had been so great.

Because there were over nine hundred Fiendgods in front of him!

More than sixty percent were Void-level Fiendgods!

These were true Fiendgods, and most of them had divine abilities. Having lived for endless years, their Dao comprehension was probably extremely profound. Each Void-level Fiendgod was on par with a Celestial Immortal, and the most outstanding among them could probably even match the top-tier Celestial Immortals. With this many Fiendgods combining their power, how could they be stopped?

“What has the Shaoyin clan done, imprisoning so many Fiendgods like this?” Ji Ning was deeply shocked.

In the sky, the nine Celestial Immortals of the Shaoyin clan all had ugly expressions.

“Damn it.” The Shaoyin Patriarch’s face was ashen.

“We should have just killed these Fiendgods long ago.”

“That Ji Ning is truly detestable.”

“He actually released the Fiendgods of the Endless Cupping Furnace.”

The Celestial Immortals were all furious.

Over nine hundred Fiendgods had burst out of the ground, all of enormous size. For a moment, it was as if the very sky had darkened. They all stared at the Shaoyin clan’s Celestial Immortals in the air, their eyes filled with endless hatred, a tangible hatred that was so dense it seemed solid.

...

“Not good.” The Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals within the formation’s barriers were completely dumbfounded. Anyone could see the hatred these Fiendgods held for the nine Shaoyin Celestial Immortals. They could also see that more than half of them were at the Void-level Fiendgod stage. So many Void-level Fiendgods... it was simply terrifying.

Old Fiend Fu Feng reacted the fastest. He immediately roared angrily, “Can’t you see those Fiendgods have gone berserk? Hurry, hurry up and begin the evacuation of the Chenyu Mountains! All our clan members must be evacuated!”

“Yes.”

“Right!”

“Quickly evacuate our clansmen.” The group of Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals all hurriedly went to do so, as they still valued their clansmen.

...

“Shaoyin clan!!!” The nine hundred-plus Fiendgods hovered in the air, glaring at the nine Celestial Immortals with sky-filling hatred. The Fiendgod who led them had a human body but nine heads. He let out a furious roar. “You imprisoned us for endless years, tormented us for endless years! I, on behalf of all us Fiendgods of the Furnace Tribe, swear this oath: In this life, we will wipe the Shaoyin clan out to the last member!”

“We swear it. Annihilate the Shaoyin clan!”

“Annihilate the Shaoyin clan!”

“Annihilate them!”

The roars shook the heavens. They caused the faces of the Shaoyin clansmen within the formation’s barriers to turn pale, and the faces of the nine Celestial Immortals to turn ugly as well. They knew very well how much hatred these Fiendgods held for the Shaoyin clan. Anyone imprisoned and tormented for endless years would be filled with endless hatred.

“Imprisoned and tormented for endless years?” The Shaoyin Patriarch among the nine Celestial Immortals was very calm. He sneered, “Who can you blame? Only yourselves, for being so stupid and ungrateful! If you had been willing to submit to my Shaoyin clan, wouldn’t you have regained your freedom long ago? And you could have enjoyed endless pleasures.”

“Submit? We Fiendgods battle heaven and earth; we are the masters of the universe! How could we possibly submit to you?” the nine-headed Fiendgod roared, his voice echoed by the angry roars of all the other Fiendgods.

“Hahaha, masters of the universe? Under my torture, haven’t dozens of Fiendgods submitted to me?” The Shaoyin Patriarch laughed heartily. “Masters of the universe... you kill me! You’re just a bunch of fools born at the beginning of this major world’s creation.”

“Those who submitted to you are all trash, a disgrace to us Fiendgods! The true warriors of our kind would never bow their heads!” the nine-headed Fiendgod roared back. “Shaoyin Chou! You imprisoned us one by one. Your biggest mistake back then was not killing us. Now that we are gathered here, we will make your entire Shaoyin clan extinct!”

By this time, Ji Ning had also reached the surface. He looked up at the scene of the Fiendgods swearing their oaths in the sky. Listening to their conversation, he could guess much of what had happened.

The nine-headed Fiendgod suddenly looked down, his gaze landing on Ji Ning, who had appeared on the surface.

“Good brother. Tell us your name.” The nine-headed Fiendgod looked at Ji Ning. They had all seen him pulling at the bronze pillar as they rushed out. “You gave us back our freedom. This favor is higher than the heavens, deeper than the earth. We will never forget it.”