The Fodder Tide

Ji Ning stared at the endless stream of black-cloaked warriors flying out of the distant ship’s hatchway, startled. “No,” he murmured. “The ones I fought earlier had scaly wings and blood-red eyes. But these black-cloaked ones… every one of them has four arms, golden eyes, and blood-colored curved horns. Their appearance is completely different, and their aura is utterly distinct.”

If the ten enemies he had slain earlier were harmless kittens, these black-cloaked warriors were true tigers.

“Over a thousand black-cloaked warriors.” Ji Ning watched as, after the thousand warriors had emerged, a purple-cloaked warrior finally stepped out of the hatch. In terms of appearance, he was identical to the black-cloaked ones—only his cloak was different. His aura, however, was worlds apart.

“What a terrifying existence.” Ji Ning suddenly felt a suffocating pressure.

The purple-cloaked warrior took a single step, leaving only an afterimage, and appeared at the front of the thousand black-cloaked warriors. Just that speed alone made Ji Ning’s eyelids twitch. Even if he used his ‘Nine Heavens Oblivion Wind’ divine ability, he would be slower than this creature.

The intangible pressure of that aura weighed heavily on Ji Ning. “He is absolutely more powerful than any Celestial Immortal I’ve fought.”

“Commander!”

The thousand black-cloaked warriors gazed at their leader with fanatical reverence.

The purple-cloaked warrior, however, looked at Ji Ning with keen interest. “An outsider? Shaped like this, and so small? I have never seen or heard of such a being before.”

“What do I do? What do I do now?” Ji Ning’s heart churned with anxiety. The grand formation covered tens of millions of kilometers—there was no escape. And now this Broken Horn World had dispatched a force of terrifying strength.

“The Void Tide is completely blocked by the third Void Circle,” the purple-cloaked warrior said with a smile. “No need to worry. Release our children. Capture this outsider alive.”

“Yes!”

A thunderous roar echoed through the void as the thousand black-cloaked, curved-horn warriors simultaneously opened their mouths. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh… From each of their mouths flew ten small pellets. In an instant, over ten thousand pellets appeared in the void. As soon as they emerged, they rapidly expanded, transforming into massive, scale-winged, blood-eyed warriors.

“They spit them out of their mouths?” Ji Ning was stunned.

“Children, capture this outsider alive,” the purple-cloaked warrior commanded.

“Yes!”

The ten thousand blood-eyed warriors answered as one. Half of them—the slightly smaller ones—all opened their mouths, unleashing a soundless roar. An invisible wave of force instantly crashed toward Ji Ning. He had experience with this now. He knew these blood-eyed warriors were masters of soul-based attacks. Last time there had only been five; this time, over five thousand struck simultaneously.

The invisible wave was inescapable. He could only endure.

Clang, clang, clang…

Ji Ning felt his soul ring and tremble. But his Iceheart Realm was nearly perfected. He held firm.

“A strong soul,” the purple-cloaked warrior praised softly.

“This outsider does have some skill.”

“Right. These children of ours are cannon fodder, weak in combat, but with numbers like this, they are still threatening. I wonder where this outsider came from. He’s quite capable.”

The black-cloaked, curved-horn warriors exchanged quiet comments among themselves.

The blood-eyed warriors, unaffected by the failed soul-attack, all surged forward with their weapons, blotting out the sky.

These enemies were roughly on par with Void Fiendgods in strength but lacked the ‘undying body.’ If Ji Ning went all out with his divine abilities—Starseizing Hand, Three Heads, Six Arms—he could sweep through them in no time. Killing them would be easy. But he dared not waste his divine power recklessly. The Starseizing Hand consumed divine power at a terrifying rate. Once his reserves were exhausted, he would have no means left to struggle.

“I have to rely on my sword-art.”

Ji Ning gripped the two Northsea swords, expanding them to three hundred zhang in length. Swoosh! Activating the Nine Heavens Oblivion Wind ability, he charged directly into the midst of the ten thousand blood-eyed warriors. Once inside, he stopped using movement techniques and relied solely on his swordplay.

Shiiing, shiiing, shiiing…

Sword-light flashed. Ji Ning’s swordsmanship was profoundly exquisite, far beyond anything these blood-eyed warriors could match. The two three-hundred-zhang Northsea swords arced through the air again and again, slicing through the blood-eyed warriors’ heads, sometimes cleaving them in two at the waist. Whether decapitated or cut in half, these blood-eyed warriors could not recover. They all died.

“Such exquisite swordplay.” The purple-cloaked warrior was impressed.

As a peerless Sword Immortal, even though Ji Ning could not sense the Dao here and could not call upon the power of Heaven and Earth, his sword techniques remained supremely profound.

“Children, ignite,” the purple-cloaked warrior commanded.

“Roooar!”

“Die!”

“Outsider!”

Countless blood-eyed warriors roared, their bodies flickering with a hazy green light. Their speed and strength surged as they madly surrounded Ji Ning.

But Ji Ning remained calm. He did not use any divine abilities. He relied purely on his sword-art to kill them one by one. He even used his body as a weapon, letting their axe-blades and whips slam into him. Having trained in the [Eight-Nine Arcane Art], Ji Ning mingled among the blood-eyed warriors, letting the impacts knock him around—but he used the momentum to his advantage. He was not worried about injury.

Boom, boom, boom… Ji Ning was sent flying by a great axe, then whipped away, then smashed aside by a heavy staff… But as he flew, his sword-light flickered eerily, and the heads of countless blood-eyed warriors soared into the air.

In the endless darkness, three powerful wills conversed.

“This human’s body is quite formidable.”

“Yes, it is like a human magic treasure.”

“His power is probably at the Celestial Immortal level. But his body is this tough. He must have trained in some heaven-defying protective divine ability of the human race.”

“It would be best to capture him alive and study his body thoroughly. If we can unravel some of the secrets of that ability, it would make our sisters’ bodies even stronger.”

Relying on the razor-proof defense of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art and his peerless swordplay, Ji Ning killed over ten thousand blood-eyed warriors in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. But he felt no joy. He could see from the smiles on the thousand black-cloaked, curved-horn warriors and the calmness of their purple-cloaked leader that, to this Broken Horn World, what he had just killed was nothing.

In truth, it was indeed nothing. Those were mere cannon fodder—not even considered true kin by the curved-horn warriors. To birth a genuine kin required great effort and great cost. But incubating this kind of disposable fodder was easy and cheap. Each curved-horn warrior could only control a limited number of cannon fodder; they had to die before more could be hatched.

“Killing ten thousand of our children is actually quite impressive,” the purple-cloaked warrior said. “Qu You, go test his abilities.”

“Yes.”

A black-cloaked warrior nodded. Four short swords appeared in his four hands.

Ji Ning’s heart tightened. After just witnessing him kill ten thousand blood-eyed warriors, they were only sending a single black-cloaked warrior?

“Hmph.” The black-cloaked warrior blurred into motion, charging straight at Ji Ning.

“Fast.” Ji Ning felt a moment of discomfort. The blood-eyed warriors had been much slower. This black-cloaked warrior’s speed was only slightly slower than his own Nine Heavens Oblivion Wind ability. They were in the same ballpark. Being slightly slower was not a decisive disadvantage.

Four icy short swords howled toward him.

Ji Ning’s Northsea swords met them.

Clang, clang, clang… A series of collisions. Ji Ning’s advantage was his profound swordplay; the enemy’s was his four arms.

But after just one exchange, Ji Ning was sent flying backward.

“Such strength.” Ji Ning’s expression changed. He immediately shook his body, manifesting three heads and six arms.

“Three heads, six arms? This is your true form?” The black-cloaked warrior was surprised, then grinned. “Interesting.” He attacked again.

Wielding six divine swords, Ji Ning’s swordplay remained profound and exquisite. He still refused to use the Starseizing Hand; the cost in divine power was too high, and the true power of the Broken Horn World was unfathomable. Better to feign weakness. If he revealed his ultimate technique, the enemy would simply respond with even greater force.

Shiiing. One of Ji Ning’s sword-strikes grazed the black-cloaked warrior’s body. The warrior retreated quickly, but a large gash was opened across his abdomen, leaking green blood. In the blink of an eye, however, the wound healed.

“Regeneration?” Ji Ning was alarmed. “Two different species, then. The cannon fodder couldn’t regenerate, but these black-cloaked warriors can.”

If they could recover, killing them would be far more difficult.

“Mm?” The watching purple-cloaked warrior spoke up. “Qu You’s entire squad, join the fight.”

“Yes.”

Nine more black-cloaked warriors flew over.

“Qu You, you’re slipping.”

“Can’t even take down a single outsider and got yourself wounded.”

The nine black-cloaked warriors teased him, but none of them held back. They quickly formed an encirclement, boxing Ji Ning in. There was no escape.

BOOM!

Ji Ning’s body suddenly swelled, expanding to a thousand zhang tall.

A thousand zhang was the limit of his Heavenly Transformation ability.

“What?!” The ten black-cloaked warriors had been swarming a tiny target, only for it to suddenly explode in size, matching their own stature. They were stunned.

“So you are this tall. This must be your true form,” Qu You exclaimed in admiration. “Three heads, six arms, as tall as us. This outsider is strong.”

Ji Ning, however, was grieving over the cost. The more abilities he used, the more divine power he consumed. Under Heavenly Transformation, his strength and speed surged dramatically.

“Each of these black-cloaked warriors is comparable to a Goldbell Celestial Immortal or a Withered Tree Celestial Immortal. If any more come, I’ll have to use the Starseizing Hand. And once I use it, I’m close to the end.” Ji Ning was anxious. Divine power, once spent, was difficult to recover quickly. And he still had no idea how to escape.

No path to the heavens. No door to the earth.