A Single Sword to Slay the Demonfiend King

Two figures of Ji Ning appeared in midair. The only one present who wasn't surprised was the Demonfiend King—he had long since learned from the Snow Fiendlord that Ji Ning possessed two clones, which was precisely why he had extended such 'special treatment' to Ji Ning.

"Your clone has finally appeared." The Demonfiend King laughed heartily. "I've been waiting for quite a while."

Whoosh!

He charged forward with a roar.

One of the Ji Nings activated Three Heads, Six Arms and shot forward to meet him, six streaks of sword-light hacking wildly as he engaged the Demonfiend King in close-quarters combat. The other Ji Ning—the one who had just appeared—had seven hundred and twenty-nine Pure Yang supreme-grade flying swords materialize around him. A vast sea of sword-shadows rippled around him as his extraordinarily pure immortal energy, far surpassing that of an ordinary 'Pure Yang True Immortal' of the Three Realms, surged out and flooded into each flying sword.

Ji Ning's Ki was simply too pure.

This allowed the 'quality' of the sword-energy transformed through the 'Lesser Thousand Sword Formation' to skyrocket as well. As the immense volume of sword-energy gathered together, a floating jade sword formed before Ji Ning's chest.

"Hm?" The Demonfiend King, who had just sent the other Ji Ning flying backward, suddenly felt a jolt of alarm. He turned his head to look, and the moment he saw that floating jade sword, he sensed an invisible threat. This shocked him. That flying sword… it's actually making me feel threatened. How is that possible? How can he be this strong?

"That flying sword…"

"The pressure of the sword formation…"

All the battling demons, demon commanders, and even Feiyou and the other eight Empyrean Gods were stunned. The aura of the sword formation could not be concealed, and the jade sword itself was a condensed product of sword-energy—its pressure radiated outward openly, causing every demon and Empyrean God present to feel a vague, creeping fear.

In terms of the quality of their very existence… Ji Ning had already taken a step higher than all of them.

"Go!" Ji Ning pointed into the distance.

Whoosh.

The jade sword carved an arcing afterimage through the air, like a crescent moon, as that black-edged jade sword shot straight toward the Demonfiend King. Every demon and Empyrean God present could feel how tragically beautiful that crescent trail in the sky was—and also how terrifying.

Ji Ning's fourth-layer Sword Force and fourth-layer Heartforce were both peak-level Empyrean God powers. When Ji Ning used the Starseizing Hand, it also approached the Empyrean God pinnacle. Before his Golden Core had transformed, Ji Ning's Seventh Cycle of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation, powered by over seven hundred Pure Yang supreme-grade flying swords, had also possessed power at the peak of the Empyrean God / True Immortal level.

Fourth-layer Sword Force, fourth-layer Heartforce, the Starseizing Hand, and the Seventh Cycle of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation were all on the same tier. Although the Starseizing Hand and the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation's Seventh Cycle were slightly weaker, they were still in the same tier.

But now!

With Ji Ning's Pure Yang Golden Core having undergone its transformation, his Ki had become dozens of times purer. Without question, the 'jade sword' condensed from his sword formation—fed by this pure Ki—had also multiplied in power by dozens of times. It had already crossed the limit of Empyrean Gods and broken into the threshold of Daofathers! In terms of raw power alone, it surpassed the 'Seven Luminaries Empyrean God' formed by Red Snow and the others, surpassed the Daofather puppet that Evergreen Sword Immortal had once controlled, and was roughly comparable to Ji Ning's strongest Karmic Punishment Deity.

"So fast." The Demonfiend King's expression changed drastically.

The jade sword arrived.

With his Ki purified, the speed of the jade sword had also become far more astonishing. The Demonfiend King hurriedly swung his long staff, trying to block it. But the black-edged jade sword was bizarre—it traced a ghostly arc, brushing past the staff and slicing cleanly through the Demonfiend King's body.

Swish… The Demonfiend King, still holding his staff, stood frozen in midair. Then his body split in two. He had been cleaved in half by a single sword-strike.

"I lost."

The two halves of the Demonfiend King's body rejoined, reforming perfectly. He stared blankly at Ji Ning. The entire battlefield had fallen utterly silent. The demons and demon commanders who had been furiously attacking all halted, raising their heads to look at the Demonfiend King in the sky—and at the white-robed youth surrounded by that dense forest of floating flying swords that defied belief.

The nine Empyrean Gods also looked up at the white-robed youth.

"Northmont…" Every one of them felt a tremor of shock.

Far in the distance, the Seven Dragon Gods and the other Empyrean Gods who could only watch and not join the battle were completely dumbfounded. All of them stared at the white-robed youth in the sky.

"I lost. I've lost." The Demonfiend King looked at the two Ji Nings in the air. One of them vanished into thin air, leaving only the white-robed Ji Ning standing alone in the sky.

The attack of the demon army was, in essence, a tribulation.

To survive a tribulation, one had two options. The first was to endure long enough for the Demonfiend King to declare a retreat.

The second was to slay the Demonfiend King—at which point the demon army would also withdraw.

In all the previous tribulations, the first option had always been used. The participants would support each other and struggle through with great difficulty. Usually, one or two Empyrean Gods would die. In fact, as long as one Empyrean God died, the intensity of the demon army's assault would naturally decrease—after all, the creator of the Moon Underwater Abyss intended to temper Empyrean Gods, not to slaughter them all.

In the past, it had always been a matter of endurance.

But this time, Ji Ning had slain the Demonfiend King!

"Northmont Empyrean God, Ji Ning." The Demonfiend King looked at Ji Ning. "Since you entered the Moon Underwater Abyss, you have advanced in one single, unbroken chain to reach this point. And in my judgment… even my Demonic Ice Valley, guarded by countless demons, will not be able to hold you back for long. You should be able to reach that fourth island. And once you reach that fourth island, only the final guardian will remain before you. Your talent and strength surpass even Jueming's from back then. Your chances of leaving the Moon Underwater Abyss alive are extremely high."

"Work hard, young one." The Demonfiend King looked at Ji Ning, a meaningful smile on his face. "When you reach the fifth island, you will find a pleasant surprise."

"Children, let's go!"

The Demonfiend King turned and departed. The demon commanders and the great horde of demons followed, all of them casting curious glances at Ji Ning as they left.

The wave of the demon army surged in like a tide, and withdrew like one as well.

Whew. The Empyrean God Dongxu and the Empyrean God Zhenbu both let out relieved sighs. One by one, the Empyrean Gods descended to the ground.

"Northmont." The Empyrean God Dongxu walked over, smiling. "Thank you. You saved my life."

"And you saved mine too." The Empyrean God Zhenbu laughed, clapping Ji Ning on the shoulder.

"Impressive."

"Northmont, I'm convinced now. Completely, utterly convinced."

The nine Empyrean Gods had previously regarded Ji Ning as their equal. But now, they felt nothing but profound admiration. After all, the 'Seven Luminaries Empyrean God' formed by Red Snow and the others, or the Karmic Punishment Deity or Rahu Demon God that Ji Ning had commanded—all of those relied on the power of formations and the combined strength of multiple immortals and fiends to break through the Daofather threshold.

From the moment Pangu split heaven and earth to the present day, those who could rely purely on their own power as an Empyrean God or True Immortal to possess Daofather-level strength were extremely, extremely rare—barely enough to count on one hand. Every single one of them was a true favored son of Heaven. Of course, the only one who had ever managed to kill a True God or Daofather while still at the Empyrean God level was Houyi.

But setting Houyi aside and comparing him to the countless other Empyrean Gods, Ji Ning had already planted his feet firmly at the very peak.

…

Inside a quiet meditation chamber in the immortal estate.

The white-robed Ji Ning appeared once again, hovering in the air as he began to execute the Icefire Golden Core Refining Art. Gradually, a hundred-zhang golden light diagram began to form beneath his feet, and a matching hundred-zhang black light diagram appeared above his head. The items within the Red Jade Gourd and the Green Jade Gourd—the Nine-Yang Magma and the Iceheart Marrow—once again flew out. Ji Ning had begun his next round of quenching and elevating his Golden Core.

His Pure Yang Golden Core had not yet reached its limit, after all.

…

After this battle, the Ten Thousand Mountains Island returned to its peaceful state. Both of Ji Ning's clones took turns quenching their Pure Yang Golden Cores, elevating them to the second grade. By the time both clones' strength had reached a bottleneck, one and a half months had passed since the demon army's attack.

"I plan to head to the fourth island." Ji Ning spoke. "The Demonfiend King mentioned a Demonic Ice Valley heavily guarded by countless demons. What exactly is that about?"

The other nine Empyrean Gods all laughed upon hearing this.

"You've finally decided to set out."

"With your strength, Northmont, you genuinely have a good chance of crossing the Demonic Ice Valley."

"We've been waiting for you to say that for a long time."

Everyone was smiling and chatting. The Empyrean God Feiyou raised his wine jug and said, "On the other side of Ten Thousand Mountains Island, there's another floating log bridge. That bridge runs straight through an endless ice valley. Within that valley lurk countless demons—far, far more than the army you saw today. What you must do is simple: kill, kill, kill. Kill as many demons as you can. You need to fight for a full hundred years. After a century of slaughter, the Demonfiend King will judge whether you are allowed to enter the fourth island based on the number of demons you've slain."

"A hundred years of slaughter?" Ji Ning was astonished.

The first three tests had only required defeating three guardians each.

But the fourth test… he would actually have to kill for a hundred years?