The Cage of Silver Whips

The moment the violet-robed warrior charged out, the nearly hundred black-robed warriors who had been surrounding Ji Ning immediately gave way, every single one of them brimming with confidence in their commander.

Whoosh!

A silver-white long whip streaked across the void, fully a hundred thousand zhang in length. It resembled a silver serpent, its sinuous form displaying an elegant, winding grace as it descended upon Ji Ning. Ji Ning formed a sword with his fingers and directly, forcefully blocked the whip. Crack! A crisp sound rang out. Ji Ning felt a strange, penetrating force transmit through his body, reaching even his internal organs. Fortunately, his Arcane Art had tempered his body completely, leaving no weaknesses. Yet even so, the impact sent him flying backward involuntarily for several li.

His speed far exceeds mine. The power contained within that long whip is also a notch stronger than my full-powered Starseizing Hand. His whip techniques leave me no room to dodge; they seem to be on a higher level than even my sword-art. His strength has undoubtedly reached the pinnacle of a Celestial Immortal. Ji Ning analyzed silently.

Troublesome.

The black-robed warriors were only at the level of Goldenclock Celestial Immortal or Witheredwood Celestial Immortal. But this violet-robed warrior was far more powerful than even Passion Celestial Immortal! Even his proudest Starseizing Hand was slightly weaker, while his speed and sword-art were clearly a grade inferior. Fortunately, in this Realm of Annihilation, only close combat was possible. His **Arcane Art body could still leverage its advantages. If they were within the Three Realms, a Celestial Immortal of this caliber would be very close to a Pure Yang True Immortal… A single magic treasure or formation would be enough to make him despair. But here, with only close combat permitted, he still had a sliver of hope.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Ji Ning, in his Three Heads, Six Arms form, simultaneously executed the Starseizing Hand. The violet-robed warrior’s four arms each held a silver whip, and the whips, like dancing serpents, frantically besieged Ji Ning.

Ji Ning’s six arms strained to block.

Occasionally, he would even borrow the force to dodge, all the while searching for an opportunity. An opportunity to counterattack.

Completely suppressed. I can’t get close at all. What do I do? Ji Ning’s mind raced anxiously. The opponent’s silver whips made it impossible for him to approach within fifty thousand zhang, let alone harm him.

He’s clearly using some kind of burst technique. The violet-robed warrior, however, was relaxed, in complete control of the situation. Only his palms erupt with formidable power. The strength in his legs and other limbs is far weaker. I suspect this burst technique comes at a cost. He can’t sustain it for long.

Everything has a price.

Turning from a man less than a zhang tall into a thousand-zhang Fiendgod requires a price. Three Heads, Six Arms requires a price. The cost of the Starseizing Hand’s burst power is even higher.

Crack! Crack! Crack! The four silver whips, like dancing dragons, crazily and swiftly lashed at Ji Ning again and again. He had to block every single one. If he failed to block even once… the whip would likely coil around him and completely bind him.

The whips were fast, so Ji Ning had to block fast.

His six arms strained to block, again and again.

Blocking quickly meant more uses of the Starseizing Hand, and the consumption of divine power was terrifyingly high.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

His divine power drained away at a maddening rate. Even after reaching the sixteenth level of the Crimsonbright Diagram, under the strain of the fourth-cycle Starseizing Hand, his divine power plummeted by more than half in just a short while. The previous battles had barely cost him anything.

One-third left.

One-sixth left.

Facing the whips coming from all directions, Ji Ning felt as if he were trapped in a cage woven of whips, unable to dodge, forced to parry. His divine power dwindled further and further.

When his divine power was completely exhausted, that would be the moment he was fully captured.

…

Within the water Mansion, in an ethereal, illusory space.

The Yellow-Maned Bear stood there, alongside seven other figures. Among them were a childish youth wearing a neck ring, a bald old man, a seductive woman… These seven figures all emanated immensely powerful auras, including the red-haired Fiendgod who had once fought Ji Ning.

“Big Bear, our young master is facing a crisis right now. Are we just going to stand here and watch?” The seductive woman, clad in black leather armor, frowned. Her eyebrows were stark white, and her gaze was like a venomous scorpion.

“I’ve watched Ji Ning grow from a little brat to where he is today. Do you think I care less about him than you do?” The Yellow-Maned Bear roared angrily. “I am entrusted by my master to find his successor, and Ji Ning is the best one yet. How would I dare to be careless?”

“But you’ve let him walk into a dead end now.” The black-armored, seductive woman fumed.

“Do you think that you lot could protect him?” The Yellow-Maned Bear roared back. “Do you know who Ji Ning has offended now? It’s the Broken Horn World of the Primordial Ruins World! This is the Ruins World! It’s the remnants of the enemy forces from that great war. Someone who can control an entire world is likely a survivor of that battle. Anyone who survived that war… no matter how weak, won’t be all that weak. They might even be existences at the Daofather or Elder God level! Even if you wanted to save him, do you think you could block a Daofather or Elder God?”

The black-armored, seductive woman fell silent.

“Snow Scorpion.” The red-haired Fiendgod spoke up. “Big Bear is right. Even if we act, we’re not certain we can defeat this Broken Horn World.”

“You stupid bear, why didn’t you notify us when Karmic Hellfire descended upon Ji Ning back then?” The black-armored, seductive woman couldn’t help but curse.

“And what? Should you all intervene every time Ji Ning faces a little danger?” The Yellow-Maned Bear roared angrily. “According to my master’s instructions, if he hasn’t become an Empyrean God, he is not truly my master’s disciple. Facing all kinds of trials and tribulations is a test for him. If he dies, we can only blame his lack of skill and his bad luck. It’s true that we all think highly of him, that his potential is great and his chances of becoming a God are high. But back then, how was I to know that the Shaoyin clan had a method to send Ji Ning directly to the Realm of Annihilation beside the Primordial Ruins World? I thought that even if he was in danger, we could still save him with our abilities. So I let him face the danger and experience the trials… But nothing in the world goes according to plan. Sigh!”

“We can take Ji Ning into the water Mansion, hide him in our own world. Even if the enemy refines the water Mansion, it will only be a superficial refinement. They probably won’t be able to find our world.” The seductive woman, Snow Scorpion, spoke again.

“Maybe they won’t, and maybe they will.” The bald old man said hoarsely.

The water Mansion indeed held its secrets.

In his time, Celestial Immortal Juhua had always sensed that there was a secret within. Ji Ning, too, had discovered that parts of the water Mansion were not fully under his control, but he couldn’t find them.

However, Ji Ning couldn’t find them…

Could the master of the Broken Horn World fail to find them as well?

The red-haired one said in a deep voice, “Regardless, if Ji Ning dies, the Starseizing Mansion will still fall into the hands of the Broken Horn World’s master. If the master of the Broken Horn World has reached the Elder God or Daofather level, he will definitely find our world through the water Mansion, and we will have to fight him anyway. If the master of the Broken Horn World hasn’t reached that level, he won’t be able to break our world’s grand formation. Since we have to face the Broken Horn World’s master no matter what, we might as well save Ji Ning and bring him into our world. I know that the Godking originally decreed that his disciple had to become a God to enter our world. But now, we can’t afford to care about that anymore.”

“Hmm.” The Yellow-Maned Bear nodded. “Since there’s no way to escape, we can’t afford to care about that. You all need to prepare. Once we bring Ji Ning into our world, we must be ready for the impact from the Broken Horn World. Let’s hope their master is weak and simply can’t find our world.”

“Alright.”

“Prepare.”

The seven figures all wore solemn expressions.

The child who had been silent all along finally spoke, “Father told us to leave back then, to avoid that great war. We’ve endured long enough. Let’s have a good fight with this Broken Horn World, then.”

“A good fight.”

Every one of them had flames of battle burning in their eyes.

…

Within the void of the Realm of Annihilation, enormous ships, tens of thousands of li in length, transformed into streaks of light, advancing rapidly. Dense clusters of ships stretched as far as the eye could see. At the center of these ships was a golden vessel.

Inside the golden vessel.

They all stood solemnly. At the head was a horned warrior wearing a golden cape with black lining. Behind him were eight hundred violet-robed warriors. These were the ruling class of the First Army, the most valiant and skilled of the Frontier Army that regularly waged war against other worlds.

They watched the images displayed on a giant floating mirror before them. It was the scene of the Third Void Ring’s Special Action Team’s battle with Ji Ning.

“Bena’er actually took personal action.” The golden-caped, horned warrior snorted angrily. “What a low move. If he acts, hasn’t our First Army’s deployment this time been for nothing?”

“This foreigner is quite tenacious. He might hold out until we arrive.”

“This is the Mother Queen’s command. It ought to be our First Army that captures this foreigner.”

The mighty First Army held an action team from the Third Void Ring in contempt.

“Faster, faster.” The General couldn’t help but urge. “We must capture this foreigner alive.” The Mother Queen rarely issued orders, so they naturally had to perform well.

…

In the void of the water Mansion.

“Ji Ning’s divine power is almost exhausted. Once it’s depleted and he falls into the enemy’s hands… Redhair, you will personally act and annihilate them all. Then, we’ll enter our world and prepare to receive the master of this Broken Horn World.” The Yellow-Maned Bear said.

“Understood.”

“Good.”

They all nodded in agreement.

They understood well that a battle in dire straits was an excellent tempering for the Dao-heart. What they didn’t know was that Ji Ning’s Heartforce had already leaped from the second level, the ‘Iceheart Realm,’ to the third level, the ‘Dominion Realm.’

…

In the void of the Realm of Annihilation, the dense crowd of black-robed warriors watched the nearby battle. Their commander, the violet-robed warrior, had completely suppressed the foreigner.

It’s hopeless. Less than a tenth of my divine power remains. Ji Ning was unwilling, truly unwilling. Facing the whips coming from all directions, as untamed as dragons and snakes, suppressing him utterly… was there really nothing he could do?

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