The Realm of Annihilation

After activating Heavenly Transformation and Three Heads, Six Arms, Ji Ning’s strength skyrocketed dramatically. Only then could he barely hold his ground against the siege of ten black-cloaked warriors. But this struggle came at the cost of a continuous, draining expenditure of divine power.

“He can still hold out?” The distant purple-cloaked warrior frowned. He immediately barked, “Entire First Squad, capture that foreigner!”

“Yes, sir!”

A chorus of acknowledgments rang out. Ninety formidable, towering black-cloaked warriors shot toward Ji Ning, causing his face to change drastically. They’re giving me absolutely no chance. How can I, just one man, block a hundred Celestial Immortals? Even though these enemies fought in close quarters, meaning he only had to deal with a few at a time, they clearly possessed some mysterious method of joint combat. The more warriors gathered, the stronger each black-cloaked warrior became.

“Senior Big Bear, what do we do now?” Ji Ning asked urgently. “Is there any other way? If I hide inside the water mansion, can I survive this tribulation?”

“It’s useless.” The yellow-furred bear was also anxious, and resigned. “If you hide in the water mansion, the mansion will be exposed… Although ordinary Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals cannot forcibly refine me, some truly powerful beings can. I am, after all, merely an Innate spirit treasure. I believe that the master of this so-called ‘Broken Horn World’ definitely possesses at least the power of a Pure Yang True Immortal.”

Ji Ning’s heart grew bitter.

He was right.

Judging by the appearance of this army and the massive formation spanning tens of millions of li, it would be strange if the strongest being in the Broken Horn World was not at the Pure Yang True Immortal level! If he reached that level, he could forcibly refine the ‘Starseizing Mansion.’

“If I hide, I die. If I don’t hide, I also die!” Ji Ning could think of no solution.

“Right now, you can only hope that your master, Patriarch Subhuti, can find you,” the yellow-furred bear said. “Your master can dream through the Three Realms, but this place is no longer within the Three Realms. Many Heavenly Daos do not exist here. Only the Chaos Heavenly Dao covers this place. Your master probably cannot sense it either.”

Ji Ning froze.

His only remaining hope was his master, Patriarch Subhuti! The Patriarch’s power was heaven-defying; only he could save him at this moment. But the bear was right. This was the Realm of Annihilation within the ancient ruin-world. Even if Patriarch Subhuti was extremely powerful, what could he do if he couldn’t find him?

Is this where I, Ji Ning, am fated to die? There was a deep unwillingness in his heart. Senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei became Master Lü’s disciple… we promised to meet again. Father… Mother… I haven’t yet seen how they are doing in their reincarnated lives. And Earth… I haven’t gone to see Earth yet…

He was unwilling.

Truly unwilling.

If only I had left my Primaltwin back in the Yan Mountains, Ji Ning fiercely regretted. But during his battle with the Shaoyin clan, he had even brought his Primaltwin along. He had always believed that with the water mansion and the Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman, he could escape without issue. Who would have thought that the descent of the Karmic Hellfire would rob him of any chance to flee, sending him straight into this death trap?

Am I truly going to die here?

The ninety black-cloaked warriors merged with the original ten, forming a battle formation. Their combined aura swelled, and they directly encircled Ji Ning.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

After only a few exchanges of blows, Ji Ning’s seemingly indestructible body suddenly shattered. Some of his flesh and blood were even turned to ash by their sabers and swords.

“What happened?” The hundred black-cloaked warriors were all stunned.

“The Mother Queen has decreed,” the distant commander shouted, “even if this foreigner has been shattered into fragments, you must collect every single piece, not missing a single speck of dust. He will not die so easily!”

“Yes, sir!”

The previously bewildered warriors were instantly filled with fighting spirit. A direct command from the Mother Queen! They felt boundless glory. This was the void; their mental energy could sweep through everything… not even a single speck of dust could escape.

“Damn it.”

Whoosh.

A human figure coalesced in the distance. It was Ji Ning, his eyes red-rimmed. His body, forged by the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, was not something these warriors—who were merely at the power level of Celestial Immortals—could break. He had willingly shattered his divine body, gathering his main divine power into a single strand of flesh and blood. Through the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, that strand had transformed into a tiny speck of drifting dust.

But the enemy seemed well aware of his tricks, giving him no opportunity.

“He really isn’t dead.”

“Shattered like that, and he still lives?”

“If our heart-cores were shattered, we would die. But he can be shattered like that and still survive. This is terrifying.” The black-cloaked warriors were secretly transmitting to each other, all of them shaken. Whether it was his invulnerable body or his ability to survive being shattered into pieces, it all filled them with unease.

What a terrifying species.

…

“Senior apprentice-sister… your junior apprentice-brother has failed his promise!”

“Father… Mother…”

“Master…”

Scenes flashed through Ji Ning’s mind.

His senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei, who had hidden everything in her heart and yet, under the gaze of countless cultivators during the Immortal Fortunes Assembly, had become his Dao-companion…

His master, the seemingly cold but inwardly passionate Diancai Immortal…

His other master, the exalted Patriarch Subhuti who observed the changes of the Three Realms from on high…

The simple parents of his current life, who only wanted their son to live well, even foregoing revenge…

His parents from his past life—his father, always absorbed in his career, and his mother, who had cared for him like a servant…

His junior apprentice-brother, Autumn Leaf, Uncle White, Little Qing…

“Farewell!”

If he died here, even reincarnation would be impossible.

“Goodbye, my loved ones.” Ji Ning looked at the hundred black-cloaked warriors surrounding him, and the even greater number of enemies in the distance. His eyes held a strange calm. This calm transcended madness, transcended coldness; it was an absolute stillness of the heart, a perfect mastery of himself.

At this very moment, Ji Ning’s Heartforce, which had been at the second stage of ‘Iceheart Realm,’ directly leaped to the third stage—the ‘Mastery Realm.’ Among the divine archers of the Three Realms, this was considered top-tier.

But Heartforce was illusory and ethereal, utterly unable to help Ji Ning in this moment of crisis.

“You want me dead.” Ji Ning said softly. “Then I’ll drag you all down with me!” The words were in the language of his homeland, which the enemies before him could not understand.

The six divine swords disappeared.

“His swords are gone?”

“What’s going on?”

The hundred black-cloaked warriors hesitated. They could see that Ji Ning was skilled with the sword. But now, this powerful swordsman had put away his blades. Was he about to surrender?

“Pfff!”

Ji Ning’s fingers formed a sword-finger gesture. Suddenly, it stretched to three hundred zhang in length. With the full eruption of the fourth-cycle Starseizing Hand, Ji Ning’s strength soared to a terrifying level. He swatted aside a flying shuttle and then, with a puchi, pierced through the chest of a black-cloaked warrior. With a light flick of his fingers, the warrior was split in two.

“What?!” The distant purple-cloaked warrior’s expression changed drastically. “How did his strength surge like this?”

Whoosh! Pa! Shriiik!

Ji Ning completely ignored all incoming attacks. His Eight-Nine Arcane Art body could forcibly withstand them. Only binding techniques required his resistance. In the Three Realms, powerful treasures’ binding arts were difficult to defend against. But the warriors of the Broken Horn World only fought in close quarters. Their binding techniques only involved chains and whips. Ji Ning, less than a zhang tall, was incredibly agile amidst the a hundred black-cloaked warriors who were each thousands of zhang tall, making it difficult for them to bind him.

Although these warriors seemed powerful, their bodies still could not withstand Ji Ning’s sword-fingers! In close combat, they were even easier to tear apart.

“He’s dead?” Ji Ning was startled.

He had torn apart, beheaded, and otherwise attacked the warriors, temporarily incapacitating twenty-five of them. But they had all quickly recovered. However, this twenty-sixth one—after he killed him, the warrior’s aura dissipated completely. He was truly dead.

Ji Ning immediately recalled the scene of the battle. Yes… it was that green orb.

Every black-cloaked warrior had a green orb inside their body. Ji Ning had originally thought it was just an organ. It was very small—for a warrior thousands of zhang tall, the green orb was only one zhang in size. In the previous twenty-five warriors, he hadn’t damaged this green orb. Only with this last one had he succeeded.

“Pfft.”

“Rip.”

To these warriors, Ji Ning was nothing but an ant. But his finger, stretching three hundred zhang long, either ripped their bodies apart or pierced straight through their chests, crushing their heart-cores. One by one, the black-cloaked warriors fell. A dense aura of killing intent surged toward Ji Ning, wrapping around him.

“Careful, he’s discovered the heart-core!”

“He knows about the heart-core!”

“His fingers are terrifying—even stronger than his swords.”

“Our weapons can’t block him.”

“His body can’t be damaged.”

“He’s too small; we can’t bind him with a large number of chains at once.” The warriors were falling into a disadvantage.

If these were Celestial Immortals from the Three Realms, they could have cooperated to use binding arts to seize Ji Ning from a distance. But these foreign warriors only knew close combat! Although they also had deadly formation attacks, the Mother Queen had ordered them to capture the foreigner alive. So they dared not use their killing moves, afraid they might kill Ji Ning.

“Hmph.” The watching purple-cloaked warrior’s face darkened. He understood that there were two ways to deal with this small foreigner.

The first was to form a battle formation and use powerful attacks to crush him, as they did in wars against other worlds, but this would likely kill him, defying the Mother Queen’s command. The Mother Queen’s orders were paramount, even if their entire squad was annihilated.

The second was to fight him one-on-one, or in groups of three to five, using absolute power to capture him alive.

“Make way.” The purple-cloaked warrior transformed into a streak of purple light.

“So, he’s finally coming.” Ji Ning had been keeping a sliver of his attention on him. The purple-cloaked warrior was the most threatening presence. When he unleashed his speed, Ji Ning’s heart sank. The speed was far greater than the casual display before. It was already superior to Ji Ning’s own Nine Heavens Annihilating Wind technique.

“Is this my last battle before death?” Ji Ning felt no fear. His gaze was incomparably calm as he stared at the purple-cloaked warrior. “If I’m going to die, I’m taking you with me!”*

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