The Spy Beneath the Dao

“Brother, let me test him.” The nine-headed lion charged forward like a mountain range. Wherever it passed, be it the Pangu war formations, the Yinglong, or the Xingtian Gods, all were sent stumbling backward.

Although the second of the three great demon-gods of Tunlong Mountain, the horned flood dragon, was more agile, it was clearly struggling more on the battlefield. It was not as fast as the seemingly clumsy ‘nine-headed lion’.

Ji Ning felt the space around him tremble subtly. His gaze swept across the battlefield and landed on the nine-headed lion charging straight toward him. He was shocked. “It’s him? The strongest of the three great demon-gods of Tunlong Mountain, the ‘Nine-Headed Lion’?”

The nine-headed lion was a godbeast.

Among the three great demon-gods, it was the only one with the most noble bloodline, comparable to godbeasts like the nine-tailed fox or the five-colored peacock.

It was usually low-key and inconspicuous, but in terms of raw combat power, it was the strongest of the three. Looking across the entire Three Realms, this nine-headed lion was ranked amongst the very apex. Compared to Lü Dongbin, he was not much weaker. Of course, Lü Dongbin was a Ki Refiner, while the nine-headed lion cultivated both Fiendgod Body Refining and Ki Refining. From the start, Lü Dongbin was at a disadvantage.

“I’ve heard his strength is comparable to Patriarch Lü’s.” Ji Ning did not dare to be careless.

“Good, Third Brother!” The golden-feathered divine eagle in the sky was delighted.

The nine-headed lion trampled across the earth, galloping toward Ji Ning. The hordes of Seamless Gate demonic beasts and divine fiends all swiftly made way.

Ji Ning gripped his two shields tightly, not dodging at all.

“I want to see just how strong the absolute peak of combat power at the Empyrean God and True Immortal level truly is,” Ji Ning thought, his battle-intent burning fiercely. The nine-headed lion, Red Snow, and Patriarch Lü were all at the very pinnacle of the Empyrean God and True Immortal level, all extremely close to the True God and Daofather level. It was just that Ji Ning, while commanding the Xingtian God, had never had a chance to fight Patriarch Lü or Red Snow.

Of course, Ji Ning’s Primaltwin had once fought against Red Snow inside the aquatic palace.

But Red Snow, as the leader of the seven great Empyrean Gods, someone even Subhuti praised, a figure who was only a hair’s breadth away from the Daofather level… when Ji Ning’s Primaltwin had challenged him, he had lost utterly and miserably.

Here on the battlefield, however, Ji Ning’s second true body was a Pure Yang True Immortal, and he was backed by the power of the Xingtian God formation. Ji Ning was fully confident in giving battle.

“Boom… boom… boom…”

The earth trembled.

The nine-headed lion charged straight at Ji Ning. Ji Ning also strode forward to meet it.

“Hmph.” A flicker of ferocity flashed through the nine-headed lion’s eyes. It lowered its head, and a layer of golden light began to appear on its crown, as if the entire nine-headed lion had been plated in gold.

Ji Ning also hunched his body, holding both shields, and rammed straight forward.

Both were meeting force with force.

The nine-headed lion itself was a godbeast famous for its strength, and with this ‘Tun Mountain Great Sage’s’ profound Dao comprehension, it was even more formidable.

As for Ji Ning’s strength, there was no need to mention it. On the battlefield, he had already been bullying countless powerful experts of the Seamless Gate side.

“BOOM!!!”

The nine-headed lion felt a surge of immense, sweeping power. It was pure technique, raw power pushed to its ultimate limit. The force forced the nine-headed lion to stagger backward. Shocked, it quickly employed its movement technique. The space around it twisted, and it had already retreated a full thousand li. Yet its retreat was as graceful as a teleportation art, leaving no flaw for its opponent to exploit.

“So strong.” Ji Ning also felt a strange vibration.

It wasn’t simply immense power. It was a kind of tremor.

It was like the vibration caused by an earthquake—a tremor that was difficult to withstand. Ji Ning immediately understood. No wonder all the divine demon armies on their side, whether they were Pangu war formations, Yinglong war formations, or the various Xingtian Gods, had all been shaken backward. And yet, the nine-headed lion continued its rampage, seemingly without expending much effort.

This was because it was a profound technique.

Although the Xingtian God commanded by Ji Ning possessed limitless strength, it couldn’t help but take three steps back to dissipate this vibration.

“What incredible strength!” The nine-headed lion laughed from afar, its voice echoing across the battlefield. “Come, let’s go again!”

“Am I supposed to be afraid of you?” The Xingtian God Ji Ning also charged forward.

BOOM~~~ BOOM~~~

Ji Ning and the nine-headed lion clashed again and again on the battlefield. Each time, Ji Ning would only be forced back two or three steps. Although the nine-headed lion’s Dao techniques were profound—it could make the earth beneath its feet twist and the space itself distort as it stepped—the gap in raw power was ultimately too great. This forced the nine-headed lion to flicker and teleport across a range of a thousand li again and again.

“Third Brother, if the three of us brothers join forces to form the Three-Eyed God, do we have a chance of killing this Ji Ning?” The golden-feathered divine eagle, who was being entangled by the Xia Emperor and others in the sky, sent a telepathic message.

“Third Brother, your eldest brother and I are just waiting for your command,” the horned flood dragon, who had also flown nearby, ready to join forces at any moment, sent.

The three great demon-gods of Tunlong Mountain could form a formation to become a single ‘Three-Eyed God’.

In this Three-Eyed God, the one who truly took the lead was their strongest brother, the ‘nine-headed lion’. It was very similar to the seven great Empyrean Gods of Starseizing Manor. When they formed the ‘Seven Radiance God’, the leader was Red Snow. After all, Red Snow and the nine-headed lion were both the strongest in terms of Dao comprehension and combat prowess within their respective groups.

“I’m not confident,” the nine-headed lion sent back telepathically. “This Ji Ning is extremely skilled at commanding the Xingtian God. His strength is too great. Even if we join forces to form the Three-Eyed God… in a one-on-one fight, we could naturally kill him. But all around us, there’s a huge group of powerful experts from the Crimsonbright Territories pestering us. They’ll be madly harassing us. Under these circumstances, our chances of killing Ji Ning are very slim—less than thirty percent.”

“Mm.”

The golden-feathered divine eagle and the horned flood dragon understood.

Indeed, the Crimsonbright Territories had sent a full six Empyrean Gods and True Immortals just to tie down the golden-feathered divine eagle, who was the fastest. Naturally, there was another group of experts to tie down the horned flood dragon and the nine-headed lion. If the Three-Eyed God were formed, this large group of experts would naturally join forces with Ji Ning to oppose it. At that point, the chances of killing Ji Ning would be less than thirty percent.

“What a powerful nine-headed lion,” Ji Ning thought, shocked by their exchange. “In a one-on-one fight, he’s only slightly at a disadvantage against me. And I’m a Pure Yang True Immortal, leading three thousand Celestial Immortals and three hundred thousand Loose Immortals! He’s just too strong… If the intelligence reports are right, and the three great demon-gods of Tunlong Mountain combine to form the ‘Three-Eyed God’, just how strong would that be? If I fought it one-on-one, I’d probably be killed very quickly.”

Ji Ning’s gaze swept across the battlefield.

Because the three great demon-gods had arrived here, a large group of experts from their own Crimsonbright Territories had also rushed over. There were a full five Yinglong war formations and no fewer than six ‘Xingtian Gods’ commanded by Empyrean Gods and True Immortals in this area.

This was the threat that the three great demon-gods of Tunlong Mountain posed to their side.

…

Daofather Ink Bamboo, standing atop the Seamless City, had been observing for a long time. On the battlefield, both sides had suffered significant casualties and were still engaged in a mad slaughter. Daofather Ink Bamboo spoke. “Withdraw.”

The voice rang in the minds of all the Seamless Gate commanders.

“Withdraw.”

“Go.”

“Retreat!”

The Seamless Gate forces swiftly began to gather together, joining forces and pulling back step by step.

Soon, Daofather Crimsonbright, standing on the Eight Dragon Cloud City, frowned at the scene and also spoke. “Withdraw and rest.”

…

On the city wall of the Eight Dragon Cloud City.

“Ji Ning, what was our loss this time? What about the Seamless Gate’s losses?” Tonghe Immortal, Mad Immortal, Floating Dust Immortal, Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal, and Flying Rain Fairy gathered around Ji Ning. The six of them had been fighting and dying together for years on the battlefield, and their bond was deep, making them a small group. They had always advanced and retreated together on the battlefield.

“Right, we had no time to look around on the battlefield,” Floating Dust Immortal said hurriedly.

Ji Ning sighed. “The losses are heavy on both sides. Both sides should have lost around ten thousand Celestial Immortals. I don’t know the exact numbers. The Xia Emperor should know.”

“We lost that many?”

“It’s not bad. The Seamless Gate has more puppets over there. For us to have roughly the same losses as them is pretty good.”

“This was just the first skirmish. This Realm War is truly insane.”

They all lamented.

In the past, they had only been embroiled in wars over the Grand Xia world. Now, this was a Realm War. One had to know that in the past, the Xia Emperor had only a little over ten thousand Celestial Immortals under his command. After fighting for so long, more than half of them were still alive. But now, in just a single skirmish, that many had died.

Fight one battle, rest for a while. After a period of time, fight another battle, then rest again.

This was the rhythm of a Realm War.

After all, fighting for a long time consumed a great deal of divine power and Ki. If they fought continuously, they would have to take Immortal pills to replenish their energy. Neither side wanted that. So, after fighting for a long time, they would cease battle and rest.

These seemingly simple rounds of engagement didn’t result in overly heavy losses.

But both sides were looking for an opportunity… Once an opportunity appeared, this seemingly stalemate battle would immediately ‘ignite’. Then, Celestial Immortals would die in droves, and even Empyrean Gods and True Immortals would start to fall one by one. One had to know that even though they had fought three battles now, not a single Empyrean God or True Immortal had died on either side!

Even if a Pangu war formation collapsed, the overseeing Empyrean God could escape easily.

With no Empyrean Gods or True Immortals dying, it was clear the battle hadn’t yet reached its most critical moment.

…

In a vast, dark world.

The ten-thousand-zhang throne hovered in the center of this world. The Godking sat high upon it, looking down.

“Godking.” A figure knelt below.

“This Realm War has already seen three battles. Daofather Ink Bamboo has already deduced the strength and hidden methods of the Crimsonbright Territories more or less. It’s time for the final, general assault,” the Godking said, looking down at the kneeling figure. “You have been lurking by Daofather Crimsonbright’s side for so long. It is time for you to truly reveal yourself.”

“Your subordinate has been waiting for this day,” the kneeling figure said respectfully, his voice filled with eagerness.

“After this battle, your identity will naturally be discovered. You will no longer be able to stay in the Nuwa camp. You will come directly to the Seamless Gate. This time, you are the key. Do not disappoint me,” the Godking said.

The kneeling figure said, “Your subordinate has been lurking for endless eons, all for this moment! All the forbearance, all the disguise, has been for this moment’s eruption. Even if I die, I will not disappoint you, Godking.”

“Good. Among my many children, you have always been exceptionally brilliant. Once you return to the Seamless Gate this time, I will personally accept you as a disciple and bestow upon you the three Innate Spirit Treasures of the ‘Kong Sword Formation’,” the Godking said.

Upon hearing the words ‘Kong Sword Formation’, the kneeling figure became excited. He raised his head and said resolutely, “Godking, just watch.”

The face he revealed as he lifted his head…

It was none other than the Evergreen Sword Immortal!