The Groundroar

Whoosh.

They flew through the air, shattering all obstacles in their path. Whenever there was trouble, Kua Fu would simply stretch out his leg for tens of thousands of li and crush everything underfoot.

Before joining them, when Ji Ning had traveled alone, he'd been ambushed by an 'Eight-Armed Warfiend Formation' and nine-headed serpentine beasts. But ever since he'd started moving with Kua Fu and the other five True Gods, things had been remarkably easy.

"Feeling relaxed?" Xing Tian asked with a chuckle as he flew side by side with Ji Ning, both treading upon clouds.

Ji Ning had grown quite accustomed to the mouth on Xing Tian's belly. Having once commanded a 'Xingtian Formation' himself, he remained composed. "Yes, I haven't even had a chance to lift a hand yet."

"Kua Fu is too fast. Nobody can beat him to the punch," Xing Tian laughed. "And as you know, the alien races of the primordial ruins are no match for the Three Realms in terms of raw power. When we attack, they don't dare face us head-on. Instead, they try to use the dangerous terrain here to deal with us. Now, the 'Quietdark World' is one of the foremost worlds among the primordial ruins. The more powerful the race that occupies it, the less dangerous the world itself becomes."

Ji Ning nodded.

A good territory. Strong races claimed the best lands.

Truly dangerous and perilous places were unsuitable for raising future generations. Just look at how the Three Realms themselves were divided—Nuwa's Alliance and the Seamless Gate splitting such a prime location between them.

"We're having an easy time in the Quietdark World, but when we get to the truly dangerous ones, things will get messy," Xing Tian warned. "You must be especially careful then. Some of the most fearsome places can kill even a leader-class figure without question."

"I understand," Ji Ning said solemnly.

No exaggeration there—even a leader-class existence could die without fail.

Among the primordial ruins' ten greatest death zones, the first was the 'Void Sea.'

The 'waters' of the Void Sea were countless fragments of the void itself. These shards crashed against each other, creating a terrifying grinding force that could pulverize even supreme-grade innate spirit-treasures! Only Chaos treasures could withstand it. To this day, no one had dared to force their way inside. Even Mother Nuwa had never attempted it. Now that she had become a World God, she might have been strong enough to traverse it, but there was no reason to take such a risk.

...

They journeyed onward.

Two days later.

"Whoosh." A procession of powerful divine beings flew through the air atop clouds and mist—Kua Fu, Xing Tian, Kong Xiu, Feng Ji, Xi Huang, Lu Wu, and Ji Ning.

"Hm?" Ji Ning gazed down from above. Below them was a vast complex of buildings. The alien architecture was unique, and there were even some magnificent palaces, but now everything was shattered, with many structures clearly cut apart by sword-slashing.

Kua Fu looked down and laughed heartily. "Look at those sword marks. Must have been Yuding's work. He moves fast."

"It's indeed the lair of the Quietdark race, destroyed by Yuding's team," Kong Xiu said. With four of her clones embedded in four different squads, she had the clearest picture of all movements.

"The ancestral home of the Quietdark race..."

Ji Ning sighed inwardly.

This was a war for survival. For Nuwa's Alliance to survive, the enemy either had to surrender, flee, or die. There was no other choice.

"Let's go. We've spent five days scouring the Quietdark World. Time to move on to the next one," Kua Fu said.

"Let's move."

And so, Ji Ning and the others continued their journey.

The journey had become remarkably easy. Even when some trouble arose, Kua Fu and the others handled it. Ji Ning never had to lift a finger, and he wasn't anxious about it. He had come to the primordial ruins to fight and to win. When the moment came that truly required his strength, he would act without hesitation. If he could win this entire war without ever needing to fight, that would be even better.

Ji Ning remained calm. Ever since his power had reached the leader-class threshold, he found himself facing everything with greater equanimity.

It's true. Only when you have genuine strength can you face the world with such composure, he mused silently.

Three Realms, Ancient Human Imperial Palace (also the Grand Xia human world's imperial palace), Myriad Races Hall.

This was the hall where the ancient humans had once convened all the great powers. In the era of humanity's greatest strength, they had possessed a full roster of ancient sovereigns. Many divine beings like Xing Tian and Ying Long had long since stood with the human race.

Inside the hall, the Three Sovereigns of Humanity, the leaders of the Buddhist and Daoist sects, Patriarch Subhuti, the great god Houyi, the Buddhist Honored Ones and Daoist Patriarchs, and various other wandering cultivator powers were all gathered. They had been assembled here for over half a year now, ever since the war against the primordial ruins began. Most were here only as avatars or clones, ready to coordinate at a moment's notice.

"Fuxi and his team have entered the extremely dangerous Thousand Mountains World," Suiren spoke. "This is the most perilous world they have faced since we began our assault on the primordial ruins."

"Those alien races are cunning," Three Purities nodded. "They've refused to fight us head-on, and we haven't yet found their true lair. We've already conquered most of the safer worlds. Now we have no choice but to attack the extremely dangerous ones."

Suddenly, a burly figure clad in dark armor spoke in a booming voice. "In my opinion, Ji Ning suddenly joined the Dao-attacking squads a few months ago. For the first few months, it was fine, because they were only tackling the safer worlds. He didn't even have to lift a hand—Brother Kua Fu handled everything! But now they've entered the Thousand Mountains World. It's a very dangerous place. At critical moments, Kua Fu and the others might barely be able to protect themselves, let alone Ji Ning. At that point, Ji Ning will become a burden!"

A lean, immortal-looking old man with a sage-like bearing chimed in from the side. "I don't particularly care for the Thunder God's bluntness, but his point stands. The current attacking squads were carefully selected for formation compatibility. If Ji Ning joins any team, he disrupts that synergy. Now, especially in such a dangerous world, he truly risks becoming a liability. I fear he might drag down Kua Fu and Xing Tian."

One great power after another began to voice their opinions.

Months ago, when Ji Ning had first entered the primordial ruins, they had debated this very issue. At the time, the situation was favorable, and they hadn't faced any truly dangerous worlds. They had held their tongues, partly out of respect for Ji Ning's master, Patriarch Subhuti, and his senior disciple-brother, Houyi.

"Subhuti." Three Purities was silent for a long moment, then turned to look at the Patriarch.

Shennong also looked at him.

Although all of them liked Ji Ning, this was a matter of grave importance that couldn't be swayed by personal affection. Everything had to be decided based on what was best for the Alliance.

"Haha..." Subhuti laughed.

The assembled powers looked at him in confusion.

"Subhuti, what are you laughing at?" the Thunder God frowned.

Subhuti glanced at the Thunder God, then said calmly, "Ji Ning will absolutely not become a burden."

"Oh?"

Shennong, Three Purities, Suiren, and the others all looked curious. The assembled powers began murmuring among themselves.

Subhuti smiled but would say no more.

"Still keeping secrets," Three Purities shook his head.

"You'll see in time," Subhuti said, his white eyebrows lifting. Beside him, Houyi bared a faint smile. He had spent far too many years with his master and knew his temperament well.

The great powers gathered in the hall, chatting and laughing. For beings with such immeasurable lifespans, it was perfectly normal to debate the Dao for a thousand or ten thousand years. In the days before the great tribulation, two immortals might sit down for a chess game that lasted a hundred years.

Half a day later.

"Not good." The delicate, soft-looking maiden sitting below suddenly changed expression. "Everyone!"

Instantly, all the assembled great powers turned to look at Kong Xiu.

Kong Xiu had five clones—one with each of the four attacking squads and one here in the Myriad Races Hall. She was the one responsible for relaying messages.

Seeing her expression grow so grave, the hearts of all the great powers tightened.

"Just now, Kua Fu's squad has fallen into a deadly death zone—the 'Groundroar Mountain,'" Kong Xiu said quickly.

"Groundroar Mountain?"

Every great power was shocked.

Groundroar Mountain was a notorious death zone. A long time ago, when great powers from the Three Realms had ventured there to train and temper themselves, a Daofather had died within it.

"Groundroar Mountain is extremely dangerous," Three Purities said, his face changing. "I've been there. I was trapped inside for over three thousand years. Send for Tathagata immediately. He has the best chance of breaking through Groundroar Mountain."

"Understood." Kong Xiu nodded. "I've already informed the Buddha. Tathagata and four others are rushing over now."

Primordial Ruins, Thousand Mountains World.

Ji Ning had now been in the primordial ruins for over three months. Following Kua Fu's team, he had yet to encounter any major danger.

"This is the Thousand Mountains World. We must be careful," Kong Xiu warned.

"Hahaha, what danger? One stomp and it's gone!" Kua Fu said, brandishing his wooden staff and laughing. But after his boast, he still turned around to instruct Ancestral Windfiend. "Windfiend, keep a sharp eye out."

"Mm," Ancestral Windfiend nodded.

The seven of them flew through the air on clouds, surrounded by an unbroken expanse of mountain ranges.

"Doesn't that mountain look familiar? I feel like we just passed it," Ji Ning suddenly said, pointing ahead.

"Huh?" Kua Fu stared, squinting. Then he nodded. "You're right. We did just pass it."

"Not good." Ancestral Windfiend carefully sensed their surroundings, then his face fell. "This is a formation. It's been laid across the entire mountain range. The coverage is enormous, and it's extremely subtle. It only needed to remove a few peaks to shift the landscape, and even I didn't notice it until now."

"We're trapped in a formation?" Xing Tian was startled.

"We're already inside it," Ancestral Windfiend confirmed.

"What do we do?" Kua Fu asked.

"Two options," Ancestral Windfiend said. "One, brute force. Smash all the mountains and destroy the entire region. That would break it. But this formation was almost certainly laid by Master Stonerule. He's a master of using mountains, rocks, and wood. At this scale, breaking it through sheer force would be nearly impossible for us. Two, break the formation through formation techniques. That's also beyond our ability. Fuxi might be able to."

No sooner had he spoken than...

Thump.

A sound like a heartbeat echoed from deep within the earth.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Low, rhythmic heartbeats resonated across heaven and earth. The surrounding mountain landscape instantly transformed into a boundless expanse of raging rivers and surging floods, endless and without limit.

Ji Ning and his companions were now hovering in midair, surrounded by infinite, turbid water.

"This... this is Groundroar Mountain!" Ancestral Windfiend's face turned pale. "Too late. It's too late. We've already been drawn in."

"We were led here without even realizing it," Lu Wu's expression also darkened.

The others all felt a chill in their hearts.

"Such a masterful formation," Ji Ning murmured. "We didn't notice a thing until it was already too late. We'd already been lured into Groundroar Mountain."

"Tathagata has been informed. He's on his way," Kong Xiu said quickly.

"Everyone, be careful. Above all, do not separate!" Kua Fu's voice dropped into a guttural snarl. "This is the greatest danger we've faced since entering the primordial ruins. Even if Tathagata arrives, he'll need time to break this formation. We must hold out until he rescues us. If we cannot hold... we will die here."

"Mm," Ji Ning and the other six nodded.

Everyone's expression was grim. In a life-or-death moment, no one dared to be careless.

"The Groundroar is intensifying," Kong Xiu said. "When it reaches its peak, that's when danger will descend!"

Thump!

The sound, like a heartbeat, grew louder and louder, causing even the endless rivers around them to tremble.