Dragons Battling in the Wilderness

Nine black chains lashed out and coiled around him. Ji Ning, in his Xingtian form, swung both divine swords against the chains. The impact only caused a tremor in space—he could not break them.

“Not good.” Ji Ning saw the distant True Immortal Chibing produce a red jade vase and made his decision without further hesitation.

“Come out.”

He had no choice. He had planned to keep his true strength hidden, to land a devastating blow against the Seamless Gate when the time was right. But now, he could no longer afford to hold back. Although Senior Hongxue and the other seven Empyrean Gods could still emerge, their combined power—once they formed the Seven Radiance Empyrean God—would be enough to suppress even True Gods and Daofathers. That kind of power could completely overturn the tide of the Grand Xia war. Ning did not want to use it unless the moment was absolutely critical.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

Two divine swords appeared in the hands of the Xingtian Ji Ning. They were the supreme-grade Pure Yang flying swords—the Universal Salvation Sword of Ananda. These were true immortal swords, not transformations of the ‘Jianjian’ treasure. Wielding them, his sword-art would be far more powerful. At the same time, for the first time in battle, he activated the Heart Sutra, a soul-coordination method for Heartforce.

RUMBLE…

Heartforce commanded; soul-force executed. In perfect coordination, they frantically mobilized every ounce of power available to him. The boundless power contained within the Xingtian form surged wildly.

In an instant, Ji Ning’s power as the Xingtian more than tripled. And this was not even a minor success in the Heart Sutra.

“Break for me!” The Xingtian Ji Ning, holding the two swords of Ananda, channeled all his might into a single explosive burst. As he swung the immortal swords, they transformed into blinding rays of blood-red light. Those rays coalesced into two divine blood-red dragons. The two flying swords, now two blood-colored dragons, howled as they charged at the binding chains.

The Eleventh Stance of the Three-Foot Sword—Dragons Battling in the Wilderness!

This strike contained the profound mysteries of the Sword Dao that Ji Ning had comprehended.

This strike contained the maddened frenzy of eighteen years of battle within the Realm of Annihilation.

This strike contained the absolute, decisive battle-intent that had crystallized in Ji Ning from three years of the Grand Xia War.

The Eleventh Stance of the Three-Foot Sword, forged from all this, represented Ji Ning’s current peak of sword-art! A self-created technique was the most suitable one, because he understood every single subtlety within it. He could execute it to absolute perfection. Learning another’s sword-art, no matter how well you mastered it, could never reach that state of absolute perfection.

Only the creator could achieve that absolute perfection.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The two immortal swords swung. Each blood-red dragon howled as it charged at the coiling black chains.

To the naked eye…

It looked like over a dozen blood dragons were struggling against the black chains. The previously overwhelming chains, though still holding firm and encircling Ji Ning, could no longer completely bind him and leave him helpless.

“What are you waiting for? Come in!” The distant True Immortal Chibing aimed the mouth of his red jade vase at Ji Ning.

BOOM…

A tremendous force struck the Xingtian Ji Ning.

“Hmph.” Ji Ning merely bent his knees slightly. Having more than tripled his power, how could this vase possibly suck him in? It could not budge him at all! If the black chains had bound him completely, he would have been helpless. But now, although the chains were still formidable, he could still resist.

“What?!” True Immortal Chibing stared from afar, his expression shifting. “He… he was still hiding his strength. What a Ji Ning!”

In a life-and-death battle, the worst thing was to discover that your enemy still had hidden power.

If you knew everything about your enemy, you could set a trap. But if your enemy was too strong, that trap would be shattered.

“Baiji, Qinghu, attack now!” True Immortal Chibing sent a mental message. “This Ji Ning was hiding his strength. Even with my nascent core at risk, I can only trap him temporarily. I cannot capture him. It’s up to you now.”

The Seamless Gate’s plan this time had been meticulous.

If True Immortal Chibing succeeded, that would be for the best.

But if he failed, they had expected that his actions would still occupy the Grand Xia forces. That would allow the Seamless Gate to launch a true, ferocious assault, severely wounding the Grand Xia, perhaps even rendering them defenseless in one blow.

“Attack.”

In the Lesser World’s treasure, the Seamless Gate army that had been silently preparing received its order. True Immortal Baiji gave the command.

BOOM…

The Seamless Gate army appeared in midair.

Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, leaders like the Qinghu Sect Master, and even the previously hidden True Immortal Baiji—all appeared! And with them came two types of massive towering divine golems, each ten thousand zhang tall. The first type was common: black divine golems with curved horns, similar to what Ji Ning’s side possessed. The second type was translucent, flickering with a faint blood-light, its form leaner and more sinister.

There were six of the new black divine golems.

But there were a full sixteen of the blood-colored divine golems.

“Kill.”

“Kill them all.” True Immortal Baiji’s white brows flew upward, his cold face growing even icier. His eyes held a maddened shine as he gave the command, his voice shaking heaven and earth.

“What?!”

“How is this possible?!”

“So many divine golems?!”

The Grand Xia side was completely stunned.

They had guessed the Seamless Gate was hiding some strength. They had never imagined, after all this fighting, that the Seamless Gate could still conceal such terrifying power! Six black divine golems and sixteen blood-colored divine golems—what kind of horrifying force was this? Even Emperor Xia had only managed to acquire three black divine golems, and he had no blood-colored ones at all. In terms of value, these blood-colored golems were even more precious.

“CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!” Ji Ning swung his Ananda swords, desperately resisting the black chains.

The mightiest of the seven Xingtian warriors, the Xingtian Ji Ning, had been completely pinned down!

…

The shock at this moment was not limited to Ji Ning or the Tonghe Immortal. Even Emperor Xia and the others were stunned.

Earlier, sensing Ji Ning’s danger, Emperor Xia had become frantic. He had immediately revealed himself with his forces. Regardless of how important the seven Xingtian warriors were, the one who absolutely could not be lost was Ji Ning. The current Ji Ning alone was worth two or three other Xingtian warriors! And if Ji Ning successfully overcame the Empyrean Tribulation in the future, the impact would be even greater. A monstrous genius who had stepped into the threshold of the Empyrean God realm while still at the Void Fiendgod stage—how terrifying would he be upon truly breaking through?

Thus, Emperor Xia absolutely could not allow Ji Ning to be lost.

He appeared personally!

But…

Just as he appeared and before he could even act to help Ji Ning, he discovered that Ji Ning had already held his ground on his own. “This Ji Ning… he was still hiding a card up his sleeve. Excellent.” Emperor Xia was overjoyed.

And then—

The Seamless Gate army emerged.

“What?!” Emperor Xia watched the endless, overwhelming tide of the Seamless Gate forces and his expression darkened.

He had also guessed that the Seamless Gate was hiding many Celestial Immortals. Three of the four white-faced flood dragons were made up of Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals who had originally defected from the Grand Xia world. Only the flood dragon led by Empyrean God Dujue was from the Seamless Gate’s own forces. Was that all they had? Impossible.

But even Emperor Xia had not expected them to have so many divine golems.

“It seems they truly value my Grand Xia,” Emperor Xia thought, his gaze turning icy. “To mobilize so many precious divine golems. Even sixteen of those sinister, troublesome Bloodcloud Golems…” He hardened his resolve. “Then let it be war.”

“Empyrean God Hanzheng, Empyrean God Zhuanshui, Empyrean God Beiwang. Attack.” Emperor Xia sent the command directly.

Emperor Xia’s status was extremely high.

His Grand Xia world was among the most outstanding of the great worlds under Daofather Crimsonbright. Behind him stood the support of the ancient imperial clan and the ancestral Yinglong. His personal strength was also formidable. After endless years, how could the forces under his command be weak? Even some long-conquered worlds like the Beishan Great World had three to five Empyrean Gods or True Immortals.

Even Empyrean God Zhuanshui, who had always outwardly shown some irreverence toward Emperor Xia, had long since stood firmly on Emperor Xia’s side.

Empyrean God Hanzheng was an Empyrean God born from the native Fiendgods of the Grand Xia world. He had made a hundred-thousand-year pact with Emperor Xia and, within that time, had followed him into battle.

Empyrean God Beiwang had always been detached. Just as Emperor Xia had helped Ji Ning, he had similarly aided Empyrean God Beiwang in the past. When Beiwang eventually became an Empyrean God, he naturally felt gratitude. At the critical moment, he stood firmly with Emperor Xia.

In a vast, open space.

It was the fiery red world that had once imprisoned countless Fiendgods. But now, there was no punishment here. For days, the countless Fiendgods had been learning an ancient primordial divine formation—the Pangu War Formation.

The Pangu War Formation was the oldest and most complex Fiendgod formation.

In the primordial era, after Pangu split heaven and earth and perished, the surviving mighty beings—Mother Nuwa and others, including the weaker Fiendgods—all revered ‘Pangu’. Because at that time, Nuwa had not yet reached the World God level. Out of admiration for Pangu and gratitude for his act of creation, many of the battle formations created by the Fiendgods in their wars were named ‘Pangu War Formation’.

Countless Pangu War Formations had been created, and even greater powers had refined them.

Finally, after Mother Nuwa broke through to become a World God and perfected it, the ‘Pangu War Formation’ was truly complete. Fewer than ten of the most supreme Daofathers understood all its mysteries. Naturally, this included the most ancient human sovereigns of the imperial clan, like Suirenshi and Fuxishi.

What Emperor Xia had obtained was, of course, only a simplified version. For an army of Empyrean Gods leading countless Void and Primal Fiendgods, this simplified version was enough. Anything more profound would be impossible to use effectively.

Countless Fiendgods were separated into three armies, each led by Empyrean God Hanzheng, Empyrean God Beiwang, and Empyrean God Zhuanshui!

They could form three Pangu War Formations!

“Empyrean God Hanzheng, Empyrean God Zhuanshui, Empyrean God Beiwang. Attack.” Emperor Xia’s voice rang through that world.

“It’s time for us to strike.” Empyrean God Hanzheng grew excited and let out a howl.

“War! War! War!”

Countless Fiendgods’ eyes grew bloodshot with excitement.

They were Fiendgods. Born to fight heaven and fight earth. The will to battle was rooted in every Fiendgod’s bones. After being imprisoned for endless years, they were starving for combat.

“Go!”

The endless sea of Fiendgods, divided into three armies, gathered into one. Above each army, a colossal, nearly solid phantom coalesced—a barefoot, disheveled giant wielding a great axe. The most ancient and supreme Fiendgod: Pangu.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

These countless Fiendgods were all teleported out of that world and into the open.