The Great Demon God's Retreat

The Great Demon God Cixiu clenched his teeth with hatred as he saw the two massive palms descending upon him, covering heaven and earth. "He really is prepared to hit me with everything he's got."

In terms of raw power, Buddha Tathagata, though a True God, could fight on the level of an Elder God. This indeed made him somewhat weaker than Cixiu, a true Elder God. However, when it came to the subtlety and technique of the palm arts, Tathagata completely surpassed him. Faced with Tathagata's final, desperate two palms, Cixiu had no choice but to meet them with overwhelming force.

"BOOM!"

The two forces collided.

Buddha Tathagata used the force of the impact to send himself flying backwards.

"Alien!" Ji Ning let out a furious shout at the same moment, transforming into a black streak of lightning as he charged towards the Great Demon God.

"Damn it." Cixiu, still staggering from his exchange with Tathagata, saw Ji Ning already upon him. He cast a resentful glare at the distant, backward-flying Buddha. "I paid such a heavy price, and yet I haven't managed to kill a single one of these natives who possess Elder God-level power. What a waste."

And then, Ji Ning's sword-light descended.

It was blinding, a single sword-stroke that seemed to tear the very sky apart.

"CRACK!" The Great Demon God Cixiu's tail transformed into a streak of brilliant light, crashing against the sword-light.

Cixiu was sent flying backwards from the impact, staring coldly at Ji Ning. Ji Ning, meanwhile, turned into a black streak of lightning and arrived beside Buddha Tathagata. With a wave of his hand, he put the Buddha away.

"Master," the distant golden-armored, one-armed man sent mentally.

"Let's go!" Cixiu roared in fury.

The word 'go' was spoken with such bitter reluctance. As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the six stone pillars in the distance vanished. The 'Infinite Path Formation' had been damaged somewhat, but if they could find a formation master, it could still be repaired. The cost of repairing it was far less than acquiring a new one.

"Go."

The golden-armored man waved his hand, collecting all the alien True Gods, as well as the five servants—the three brothers of the Water Abyss clan, the red-bearded old man, and the gaunt old man. He then flew to Cixiu's side.

"Consider yourselves lucky this time." Cixiu sneered coldly at Ji Ning and the others. "The Ancient Ruins are vast. We can take our time."

"Whoosh."

A dark-golden fortress materialized. Cixiu and the golden-armored man vanished inside it, and the fortress itself quickly flew away.

Inside the fortress.

Cixiu sat upon his throne, while the golden-armored man and the other five servants stood below.

"Master, how did that Northmont Sword Immortal get out of the Infinite Path Formation so quickly?" the red-bearded old man couldn't help but ask. "It was far too fast. He wasn't trapped for very long at all."

"Yes, it was exceptionally fast," the golden-armored man said, frowning. "These natives shouldn't be very knowledgeable. They shouldn't have been able to recognize the 'Infinite Path Formation.' If someone has never seen it before… when they are trapped inside, it takes them a while to figure out how to break it. After all, the formation's range is enormous. Even just flying out at top speed would take a long time."

"Hmm." Cixiu's eyes glowed with cold light as he nodded slowly.

Yes.

An inexperienced person trapped in the Infinite Path Formation would normally probe it cautiously, and it would take them a long time to emerge. But Ji Ning had been inside for only a brief moment before he came out.

"There is only one explanation. As soon as he was trapped inside the Infinite Path Formation, he immediately understood how to break it," Cixiu said coldly. "He simply used his Lightning-Serpent Teleportation to fly out at maximum speed. That would account for it."

"But how could he possibly have known the solution to the formation so quickly?" the golden-armored man frowned. "Unless… he has encountered it before?"

"The Three Realms has encountered other great powers before, such as the Lord of All Demons and others," Cixiu said. "The Northmont Sword Immortal may have obtained records concerning the 'Infinite Path' from some alien race he encountered while roaming the Chaos. Hmph. They were lucky this time."

"Master, if you had truly wanted to kill that Tathagata… you could have," the golden-armored man said, looking at Cixiu.

The power of Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals varied.

An ordinary Elder God was a newly born Elder God, with power comparable to Daoist Three Purities, Fuxi, or Tathagata.

A top-tier Elder God was someone like the Lord of All Demons or the Great Demon God Cixiu. The Lord of All Demons relied on his techniques for creating golems and breeding beasts. Cixiu, on the other hand, relied on his extremely bloody secret arts. It was because of this that he was worthy of being called a 'Great Demon God.' In the endless Chaos, anyone who could be called a 'Great Demon God' possessed some truly terrifying and bloody techniques. If he did not use his secret arts, Cixiu was barely a top-tier Elder God.

At this point, Ji Ning, relying on his half-step Elder God divine body and his terrifying sword arts, had reached the level of an ordinary Elder God.

When he used the Violet-Light Qiong Divine Sword, he could barely be considered a top-tier Elder God. It was at this level that he could fight Cixiu to a standstill.

"Yes," Cixiu said, shaking his head gently. "Ever since I perfected my secret art, I have only used it three times. Each time I use it… the cost to me is enormous. I likely won't be able to use it for another ten thousand years. The final battle for the Three Realms is imminent, probably within the next few hundred years. We certainly can't afford to be hasty. We killed two of Tathagata's incarnations this time. Almost all of the Four Imperial Sovereigns are dead. I've also lost the Infinite Path Formation. We've done more than enough. Now it's up to the Seamless Gate. Their 'Lord of All Demons' is extraordinarily powerful. He is the native I fear most in the entire Three Realms."

"Hmm." The golden-armored man nodded solemnly. "As an Elder God, he managed to escape from a World God. Even a World God couldn't catch him! I have roamed the Chaos for many years and encountered tens of thousands of Elder Gods and Ancestral Immortals, but I have never seen one so powerful. I've only ever heard legends about such existences. I never thought I'd see a native Elder God from a Chaosworld be this formidable."

"Hmph… this is just the beginning of the game." Cixiu's voice was low. "The two native factions haven't even begun to fight to the death yet. It would be laughable if we revealed all our cards now."

"That Northmont…" Cixiu suddenly frowned. "He has six flying swords, and when he uses that blood-colored one, he barely manages to reach the power of a top-tier Elder God. Is it the power of that divine sword? Or has he already become an Elder God himself?"

Ji Ning stood together with Fuxi. Behind them were Kuafu, Yu Ding True Daoist, and a host of other True Gods and Daofathers.

They watched as the distant dark-golden fortress rapidly vanished over the horizon. Ji Ning then released Buddha Tathagata.

"What terrifying aliens," Fuxi said softly.

"It was fortunate that Ji Ning was with us this time," Buddha Tathagata said, smiling at Ji Ning.

Fuxi looked at Tathagata, then sighed. "It's all my fault. I was too weak."

"No, the aliens were simply too strong." Tathagata shook his head.

Fuxi nodded solemnly. "Yes, too strong. The strength of those two Chaos aliens… especially that tailed one. He must be a top-tier Elder God. It's a good thing Ji Ning was able to hold him off." Then Fuxi turned to look at Ji Ning, his eyes filled with astonishment. "Northmont, I can't believe you were able to block that alien…"

"I was actually at a disadvantage against him," Ji Ning said. "It was only thanks to one of my divine swords that I could match him."

When he had used the blood-colored divine sword, his power had surged dramatically. The aliens had seen it, and Fuxi and the others had also seen it. They probably already had their suspicions.

And, regarding his overall strength…

Throughout the entire Three Realms, including those two Chaos aliens, no one could claim they could definitely defeat Ji Ning. Having reached this level of power, Ji Ning naturally had nothing to fear. However, he couldn't very well say that this was only a tiny fraction of the Violet-Light Qiong Divine Sword's true power. Restoring the Violet-Light Qiong… was still a distant dream for him.

"I see. It seems you have your own fortunate encounters," Fuxi said, nodding with a smile. "Ji Ning, you may not be entirely clear on what a 'top-tier Elder God' is. When I, Nuwa, Zhurong, Ancestor Dragon, and others were born, we were already Elder Gods. At the moment of our birth, we possessed the power of an Elder God. Others, like Daoist Three Purities, Tathagata, and Divine Farmer, reached the level of a True God or Daofather, but occasionally, their comprehension of the Dao reached such a profound level that they could match an ordinary Elder God. Within the Three Realms, this is called the 'Leader Level.'"

Ji Ning nodded.

"An Elder God who has also reached a high level of enlightenment, for example, someone who has completely mastered the five Heavenly Daos of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, can then possess the power of a top-tier Elder God," Fuxi continued. "Lady Nuwa, before the Primordial Dawn War, had already mastered the five elements, as well as Yin and Yang, and also the Dao of Life. That is eight Heavenly Daos! Her power far surpassed even a top-tier Elder God. She was far stronger than the two Chaos aliens we encountered today. In that ancient era, only the 'Demonheart' of the Seamless Chaosworld could match Nuwa."

Ji Ning nodded again.

Nuwa had indeed been extraordinary. She was an Elder God by birth, and she had understood eight Heavenly Daos. And during that final battle… she had even comprehended the Heavenly Dao of Chaos, becoming a World God!